Review: A Haunting in Venice

By Kip Mooney • On • In Reviews Reviews Comments Off on Review: A Haunting in Venice

Score: B+

Director: Kenneth Branagh

Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Tina Fey, Kelly Reilly, Michelle Yeoh

Running Time: 103 Minutes

Rated: PG-13

In his third outing as mustachioed detective Hercule Poirot, Kenneth Branagh has delivered his best adaptation yet. Writer Michael Green has fashioned a spooky, sneaky and sometimes sad thriller based on Agatha Christie's lesser-known Hallowe'en Party.

Living in self-imposed exile in Venice, Poirot is summoned to a Halloween party and séance by mystery writer Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey). She's hoping her Belgian friend will use his powers of deduction to suss out whether a medium (Michelle Yeoh) is the real deal. But his skills will really be put to the test when one of the guests ends up murdered, and then another. While past outings have been confined to a train and a boat, this massive palazzo actually makes for the most claustrophobic setting of all. The production design from period expert John Paul Kelly is simply extraordinary, with hidden passageways, crumbling ceilings and ominous rooms.

But the film's secret ingredient is its sound design. I saw the film in IMAX, and while the large-format projection was nice, its extra speakers really made the difference. The ghostly screams, laughs and whispers that haunt Poirot and other guests weave in and out of different channels, creating a truly unsettling experience. Add in some creepy children (who may or may not be ghosts) and you've got a special early Halloween treat.

As usual, an all-star cast has formed around Branagh. His Belfast stars Jamie Dornan and Jude Hill once again play father and son, while Camille Cottin (House of Gucci) and Kelly Reilly (Yellowstone) play women still grief-stricken over the death of the latter's daughter. Riccardo Scamarcio (John Wick: Chapter 2) also stars as an ex-cop with hidden connections to multiple guests.

While these stories often veer into the ridiculous, everyone comes together to at least keep the emotions and motivations grounded. There may be some supernatural twists, but the crimes committed are all too human.

I'll keep watching these Poirot movies as long as they keep making them, especially if they're as taut and effective as A Haunting in Venice.

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About Kip Mooney

Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.