A Haunting in Venice

Kenneth Branagh continues with the same, generic whodunit that is a carbon copy of the previous one. Only instead of the sunny Nile Delta with its often overly digital Pyramids, we have mysterious Venice, specifically a gothic house full of strange sounds and untold secrets. Not a single moment is remarkable, not a single shot or sequence of events unpredictable. At least it is briskly told and with a few wannabe horror moments and a decent production design, and it also has a decent (meaning short) running time. (15/02/2024)

I stupidly gave it a chance again and it didn't work out, for the third time. Hercule Poirot for me is probably the most boring and least interesting detective of them all (for example comparing him to Sherlock it's 100 and 1). Again it is filmed and presented in a way that could have entertained my grandmother and grandfather, but for me, and I believe the younger generation. the film is hard to digest. This time the cast wasn't worth much either, which reflects the actors lack of interest in acting in this one. The whole film is very slow with no hint of suspense or atmosphere (no, I didn't see any horror elements here), the fact that it lacks momentum and drive is one thing, but the fact that I didn't enjoy the dialogues, story and characters is another. I didn’t guess the killer, but the final denouement did nothing for me, the final explanation is supposed to deliver a proper build-up (like in Saw), but it never happens. I really don't enjoy this style of detective stories without murders, where the whole movie is spent listening to people bored by Branagh. Delete, forget, honor. 4/10. (05/11/2023)

Admittedly made for less money, but by a huge margin the best Poirot by Kenneth Branagh. Intimate, elegant, understated, atmospheric. Where the Orient Express and  the Nile are overwrought and digital of, the beautiful mysterious residence in Venice makes do with playful camera angles, and without any CGI gimmicks. The horror overlay a nice bonus, oddly enough it holds up throughout the film, it wasn't just a trailer attraction. (22/09/2023)

A Haunting in Venice is very different from Kenneth Branagh's previous Poirot films. The less star-studded cast and smaller budget are not problem, the effort to use enclosed spaces for clever and spectacular camera games is nice, and it manages to be pleasantly creepy. An interesting and pleasant change. If Branagh plays with atmosphere and genre like this in future adaptations, I'll be happy to be there. (13/09/2023)

This time Kenneth Branagh took a lesser-known detective story and went to post-war Venice during Halloween: a promising constellation at first sight. The setting of an old, "cursed" house and the ubiquitous voice of a child "from beyond the grave" added a slight horror touch to the film, helping to build the oppressive, perhaps even paranoid atmosphere of a story full of superstition, ghosts and personal trauma. Still, I had the feeling during the screening that there was something not quite right about the film: whether it was the casting of Tina Fey, the staging of some scenes purely for effect, or the rather hasty revelation of the perpetrator and their subsequent punishment. Given the premise and the reviews, I had overly high expectations for the film, which were not satisfactorily met. I would be lying, however, if I said I didn't have fun in the cinema. Maybe one day I will return to Venice and reconsider my opinion. (20/09/2023)