IMPORTANT NOTE: This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movies being covered here wouldn’t exist.
Released: 14th September
Seen: 20th September
Six years ago Kenneth Branaugh released Murder On The Orient Express, a surprise blockbuster murder mystery that showed there was still a lot of love for the classic murder mystery genre. Hell, it’s probably fair to say that without the success of Murder On The Orient Express we wouldn’t have seen Knives Out a few years later, Of course, because Murder On The Orient Express was such a huge hit, and there are over 40 assorted Hercule Poirot novels that could be adapted, naturally that meant a sequel which is why we got Death On The Nile last year. That film was not one that ended up being reviewed over here because of the Armie Hammer allegations which made the prospect of seeing it just a little bit depressing, and now definitely won’t be seeing it thanks to the Russell Brand allegations. Fortunately, Death On The Nile does not appear to be required viewing in order to follow A Haunting In Venice, if you even want to try and follow it.
Loosely based on the book Halloween Party by Agatha Christie, A Haunting in Venice sees Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branaugh) living a life of retirement in Venice, only going out of his home every now and then to enjoy the town with a bodyguard following him in order to keep away people who might ask Hercule for some help. One person who can’t be kept away is Hercule’s old friend Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey) who comes to him with a proposition, namely to join her at a small gathering to witness an alleged medium that Ariadne believes might be the real deal. Upon turning up and seeing this medium, Joyce Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh), things start getting not just strange but slightly murder-y so the legendary Hercule Poirot will have to stop moping about and acting like his life is such a burden and solve a mystery, or rewrite history.
A Haunting In Venice is leaning into the ‘horror’ genre more than any other recent murder mystery would even try. Beyond the standard issue murders that seem to follow the stars of these stories around wherever they go, the film really leans into the titular haunting fairly early on, with a pretty visually interesting seance that really builds in intensity the longer it goes on. Of course, once we’re through with the seance and Hercule debunks it in a matter of seconds in a way that feels mostly like he’s an omniscient god who knows everything (I know that’s standard for the character but this moment is still badly presented), we then continue with the standard issue murder mystery where Hercule interviews everyone, has a few surprise run ins with the killer without knowing who it is before revealing everything. Very much playing the standards.
What kind of surprises the most about A Haunting In Venice is that, despite an absolutely stacked cast that includes people who we know can deliver some big juicy performances, everything feels so muted that it’s hard to really get engaged with the material. Even Branaugh, with his big stupid mustache and outrageous accent, feels almost like he’s just going through the motions in order to finish the picture. Michelle Yeoh in particular feels extremely wasted in her small role, this is the most recent Oscar winner who we know can do everything you ask of her and more and she really only gets one real moment to shine during the seance sequence.
What’s worse is that you can tell there are some interesting dynamics that could be worked on to make something fun, in particular the relationship between Poirot and Ariadne has all the potential to be a great double act, a mystery writer and a mystery solver should be an easy combination to make work and to their credit, Fey and Branaugh manage to make a few moments together, their characters have some half decent moments of banter that can really be a lot of fun when they happen… they just don’t happen that often. Everything feels like it’s being done exactly once in order to say it happened before we get to the climax which is just kind of underwhelming in itself. It’s not that anything is particularly bad, it’s just that this cast and this material had so much potential that’s unrealised in this presentation.
The one thing that does absolutely excel on every level is the cinematography, god damn A Haunting In Venice is one beautiful-looking film full of gloriously dramatic-looking sets and well-done, darker sequences that have a sense of dread that slowly builds as we go through the narrative. It’s a marked change from the first film and gives A Haunting In Venice its own unique look that really would be so much better if what we were looking at was able to match the potential it set up for itself.
As much as it would be lovely to say A Haunting In Venice is great or even good, it kind of only barely manages to make it up to fine in terms of quality. Sure, everyone is doing a good enough job with their characters but it’s so underwritten and everyone’s underplaying everything so much that it’s hard to even keep focus on what’s going on, it’s hard to even be bothered enough to care about the core mystery of the film because everything is so slow and dull. It’s a pretty film and if you like your murder mysteries to be a little slower and more subdued then maybe it’ll work better for you, but this audience member spent the whole time wishing for things to live up to the potential that’s clearly there just waiting to be realised… but it won’t, it will just quietly ease on down to the end and be forgotten pretty quickly, sadly.
Movie Meister Reviews 