A creepy, yet captivating mystery: “A Haunting In Venice” review

Ethan Roys

He/Him

Contributor

9/25/23

As we once again enter the Halloween season, many moviegoers will be steering clear of their local theaters for the next month or so, until the release schedule looks a bit less spooky. However, starting off this year’s selection of films is Kenneth Branagh’s “A Haunting In Venice”. Despite my aversion to anything creepy or crawly, I found myself unable to miss. The draw of another excellent mystery is simply too great. 

Like its predecessors “Murder on the Orient Express” (2017) and “Death on the Nile” (2022) follow Branagh as Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, who finds himself thrown headfirst into yet another mystery. He is joined by a smattering of other actors including Kyle Allen, Camille Cotton, Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey, Jude Hill, Ali Khan, Emma Laird, Kelly Reilly, Riccardo Scarmarcio, and Michelle Yeoh, all of whom play the guests, and later suspects, in this story. This particular venture is based on Agatha Christie’s 1969 novel “Hallowe’en Party”, though the screenplay by Michael Green changes things up enough to keep even those familiar with the story intrigued.

This being the third installment in this series of big-screen adaptations of Christie’s novels, the beginning of the movie starts off like audiences have come to expect. Poirot, now retired from his detective work, is attempting to live a quiet life in Venice, Italy, until an old friend invites him to a seance on Halloween night in an attempt to prove that a famous medium is a fraud. Intrigued, Poirot agrees, and upon arriving he, and the audience, are treated to the usual flood of details that may or may not prove to be relevant to the crime yet to be committed. The home where the seance is to take place is said to be haunted by the spirits of plague victims, making it a suitably creepy setting for nearly the entirety of the movie to take place in. The medium herself is shrouded in mystery, as is her employer, who is trying to communicate with her unfortunately deceased daughter. And of course, all the guests have their own reasons for attending, making all of them just as likely to be the culprit as they are to be the next victim. After a suspicious death, an untimely storm, and an attempt on his life, Poirot is forced to come out of his retirement and put his “little gray cells” to work once more.

I love mystery stories, which admittedly makes me a little biased towards this film, but in the end, I thought the solution was spectacular. Although I was close, I have no shame in admitting that this series yet again surprised me with a simple, obvious, and very interesting solution to a mystery that seemed unsolvable only minutes before the reveal. All in all, as a mystery, I feel that this movie is a worthy successor to those that came before, and indeed as a standalone entry into the genre. Additionally, despite now knowing whodunnit, I find myself interested in giving the movie a rewatch, to find details that I missed my first time through. That kind of rewatchability has been a feature in all of Branagh’s adaptations, something that makes them all the more worth seeing.

Finally, to address the biggest question that many people have had; is the movie really that scary? In my opinion, no, I don’t believe that it is. There are a few mild jump scares but beyond that, only a sense of creepiness pervades, implying a possible supernatural culprit. If you are a fan of the previous films, or indeed a fan of the mystery/detective genre at all, I would highly recommend seeing “A Haunting in Venice.” Indeed, I challenge you to solve the mystery before the end of the film. It is great fun to try and outguess the characters, and after all, isn’t that the reason we all go to movies in the first place?