Susan Granger’s review of “A Haunting in Venice”(20th Century Studios)
Released on September 15, Dame Agatha Christie’s 133rd birthday, Kenneth Branagh’s “A Haunting in Venice” is adapted from her novel “Halloween Party.”
In post-World War II Venice, ostensibly retired Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Branagh) is urged to attend a séance by mystery writer Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey), who has used him as a character in her crime-riddled novels.
It’s All Hallow’ Eve in 1947 when celebrated psychic Joyce Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh) plans to communicate with Alicia Drake (Rowan Robinson), the dead daughter of bereft opera singer Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly).
Alicia apparently plunged off a balcony at the family’s gloomy, reportedly haunted palazzo that once housed an orphanage; the spirits of abused children are said to still wreak revenge upon the living, especially nurses and doctors.
Always skeptical Poirot views Reynolds as a treacherous opportunist who preys on the vulnerable until she, too, meets a ghastly demise.
Suspects include PTSD-afflicted field surgeon Leslie Ferrier (Jamie Dornan), his precocious son Leopold (Jude Hill), Alicia’s former fiancé Maxime Gerard (Kyle Allen), Rowena’s housekeeper Olga Seminoff (Camille Cottin), and the late medium’s assistants, Desdemona and Nicholas Holland (Emma Laird, Ali Khan).
FYI: Back then, PTSD was called “shell-shock” and/or “battle fatigue.”
Taking considerable liberties with Agatha Christie’s original 1969 whodunit, screenwriter Michael Green (“Death on the Nile”) and actor/director Kenneth Branagh have transplanted the murder mystery to picturesque Venice, where gothic ghosts seemingly waft among the rain-shrouded canals.
Branagh’s inventive casting creates an intriguing ensemble, as comedienne Tina Fey exudes arrogant authenticity, along with sharp-tongued Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh, while Kelly Reilly is barely recognizable as “Yellowstone’s” Beth Dutton. If young Jude Hill looks familiar, he previously starred with Jamie Dornan in Branagh’s “Belfast.”
And when the embittered Poirot’s verbose disillusionment with humanity becomes too tedious, Branagh relies on production designer John Paul Kelly and cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos to provide shadowy, sinister distractions, amplified by Hildur Gudnadottir’s nostalgic score.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “A Haunting in Venice” conjures a spooky, supernatural 7, currently playing in theaters.
