It may not have the glitz and glamour of the Orient Express or a sun-kissed Nile – but this is arguably Kenneth Branagh’s most accomplished iteration of Poirot yet.
It’s undoubtedly helped by director/star Branagh having more creative liberties at his disposal, being based on a lesser-known Agatha Christie novel – that being 1969’s Hallowe’en Party.
Which leads to this third film instalment – under Branagh’s stewardship – of the legendary Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, adding an intriguing horror element. Something that is outside of the iconic sleuth’s usual area of expertise.
Having lost faith in God and humanity, a fairly downtrodden Poirot (Branagh) lives in a post-World War II (1947 to be exact) Venice – employing ex-cop Vitale (Riccardo Scamarcio) as his bodyguard to fend off the advances of the public asking him to investigate their cases.
But when Tina Fey’s (Date Night) novelist (and old friend) Ariadne Oliver turns up out of the blue, she convinces an intrigued Poirot to attend a séance at the palazzo of opera singer Rowena Drake (Yellowstone’s Kelly Reilly) – to help expose psychic ‘medium’ Joyce Reynolds (this year’s Best Actress Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh for Everything, Everywhere All at Once) as a fraud.
Rowena has hired Reynolds to help her commune with her recently-deceased daughter Alicia, who committed suicide after her fiancé chef, Maxime Gerard (Kyle Allen) – who is also invited to the event – broke off their engagement.
Other attendees to the gloomy rain-soaked party, include Drake family doctor Leslie Ferrier (Fifty Shades’ Jamie Dornan) and his son Leopold (Jude Hill), Rowena’s housekeeper Olga (Camille Cottin) and Reynolds’ assistant Desdemona (Emma Laird).
And things soon go awry when Reynolds performs the ritual, which supposedly reveals Alicia’s killer is in the room – even though Poirot is extremely cynical to the potential hocus pocus ‘shenanigans’.
But his cynicism soon becomes irrelevant as he’s forced to put his detective ‘cap’ back on again – after Reynolds’ body ends up impaled on the courtyard statue.
What ensues is a passable ‘whodunnit’ that is uplifted due to Poirot’s nerviness with the horror component to proceedings. Which to keep it close to its 12A certificate is light in the ‘jump scares’ department. Genre fans wanting anything close to more extreme ‘haunting’ entries, need not apply here.
But as a whole it has a more refined approach – and is more claustrophobically ‘compacted’ due to its one location – compared to Branagh’s first couple of franchise efforts, that were more remakes.
It sadly can’t get anywhere near either of Rian Johnson’s recent Knives Out mysteries in terms of ingenuity – but still has a ‘game’ cast that give their all to make this watchable fare.
Like the last two entries, this Haunting provides another serviceably entertaining – if ultimately fright-light – entry in the noteworthy series.
ESP Rating: 3/5
Gavin Miller
Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough, Out Now
Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Tina Fey, Kelly Reilly, Jamie Dornan, Riccardo Scamarcio, Kyle Allen, Camille Cottin, Jude Hill, Ali Khan, Emma Laird & Michelle Yeoh
Running Time: 1 Hr 43 Mins
Director: Kenneth Branagh
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