A Haunting in Venice Review

Theatrical Movie Review - Mystery

Source: ComingSoon.net

I am one of those fall-lovers. Give me all of the sweaters and cute boots and changing leaves and yes, the pumpkin spice. But even above all of that, give me that spooky season. I was late to scary movies, but after seeing “The Omen” in the fall of 1989, I have been a fan. I love the little rush of adrenaline after a jump scare, I love feeling creeped out in the parking lot, I love feeling like I need to cover my eyes when the villain pulls out a knife. I love the atmosphere of a horror movie. Knowing that Agatha Christie was a master of atmosphere, I was excited to go see “A Haunting in Venice,” the third Hercule Poirot film directed by Kenneth Branagh.

World War II is over and Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) has isolated himself in Venice, with only his bodyguard, ex-cop Vitale Portfoglio (Riccardo Scamarcio) as a companion. When his author friend Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey) comes to visit, she is allowed in. She tells him about the medium Mrs. Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh) who will be performing a seance for Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly), trying to contact her dead daughter Alicia (Rowan Robinson). Ariadne is a skeptic like Poirot, but she can’t figure out how Mrs. Reynolds is able to trick people. So on Halloween Eve, they head to the seance. But what could be a simple debunking turns into a murder case.

Branagh might be an old school director, but that worked very much to his advantage in this film. This is a movie about ghosts and he does a great job creating a sense of unease throughout the experience. It’s not scary the way a typical horror movie is, but there are far more frightening elements in this mystery movie than others in its vein.

The performances are all quite good. Yeoh continues to mesmerize in her roles, definitely leaving me hungry for more. Jamie Dornan as Dr. Ferrier is fantastic as a tormented physician who saw his patient die on his watch, and young Jude Hill did a phenomenal job as his son, a pragmatic, yet empathetic boy, trying to help his father cope with his trauma while dealing with his own. 

The mystery itself feels a little obvious, but the means are interesting and I definitely found the process of exposing the clues and method fun. Branagh gives us enough hints along the way, but it is obscured enough that there is definitely some mystery left by the time the film is wrapping up. 

If you enjoy mystery movies, I think you will have a good time at this. If you are like me and waiting for the full horror season to be upon us, I don’t know if “A Haunting in Venice” will be fully satisfying, but it is a delightful little amuse-bouche to whet your appetite for spookier days ahead.

This review originally appeared in The Dominion Post on September 17, 2023.