Film Review - A Haunting in Venice
Images courtesy of 20th Century Studios.
A Haunting in Venice attempts to differentiate itself from other murder mystery films by feigning the disguise of a supernatural thriller. However, it’s as thrilling as watching a candle slowly burn.
The third instalment in Director Kenneth Branagh’s adaptations of Agatha Christie’s novels opens with Hercule Poirot, once again played by Branagh. He’s retired as a detective and spends his days in Venice. On Halloween, he receives a visit from his old friend, Ariadne Oliver, who invites him to a seance that night attended by a collection of peculiar characters. Suddenly, he finds himself in a decrepit palazzo when one of the guests is murdered and Poirot must hurry to find the culprit as he begins to question his reality and his beliefs.
One can appreciate that Branagh is trying something different with this film by injecting more thriller and horror elements, but his direction feels inexperienced when it comes to those aspects. On a technical level, he does use the palazzo setting to his advantage, creating a creepy and dark atmosphere for his cast. But he immediately relies too heavily on jump scares to get a quick reaction from his audience. Also, the overuse of camera dutch angles to give off a sense of uneasiness is more exhausting than anything else when half of the scenes are shot in such a way.
Aside from the thriller aspect of the film, the murder mystery itself is also not surprising enough, treading familiar ground. Branagh and screenwriter Michael Green take some purposeful creative liberties on Agatha Christie’s Hallowe’en Party to make the film more of a thriller. But it ultimately feels they ended up sacrificing elements of the film’s mystery. The film’s set up and inciting murder is actually well done, but as Branagh and Green drag you to the third act, the mystery becomes blatantly obvious, which is just disappointing.
Even though this murder mystery feels quite lazy at times, the film’s international cast definitely is not. While his direction is lacklustre, Branagh’s portrayal as Poirot is always entertaining as the audience’s window. Meanwhile, Tina Fey as Ariadne Oliver is a true highlight; while her character does have a smartly comedic flair, Fey gets moments to showcase other sides as she displays shock and betrayal, and this is where it seems she’s having the most fun. Certain standouts also include Jamie Dornan and Jude Hill, who are effective playing the roles of a traumatised doctor and his troubled son. Meanwhile, French actress Camille Cottin is quietly heartbreaking as the housekeeper who fears the supernatural. Post EEAAO and Oscar win, it’s now a crime not to at least mention Michelle Yeoh and her brief role in the film as the medium, Mrs Reynolds. Branagh relies too much on her to bring up the film’s creepy factor and she does it so incredibly well, that you wish she was in more of it.
Kenneth Branagh has given audiences a mixed bag with A Haunting in Venice. The film offers nothing new in terms of mystery or thrills, and wastes it’s strong ensemble cast, which is the real disappointment.
A Haunting in Venice is screening in cinemas now. For tickets and more info, click here.