Michael Dunn’s review published on Letterboxd:
A Haunting in Venice is a murder mystery that is disguised as a horror film which hides actually meaningful themes of the negative fallout of global war.
Set in Post-WWII Venice, the third installment in Kenneth Branagh’s Agatha Christie adaptations finds detective Hercule Poirot forced out of retirement to solve a murder committed at a séance. A stark contrast to previous entries Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile, this is much more of a chilling and supernatural mystery and the tone matches this escape from typical murder mystery framework.
Branagh deserves a lot of credit here as this is definitely the best of the current trilogy. His direction is markedly improved from the previous two films, and it should be applauded for someone so involved with these movies to have the courage to pivot in such a different direction. While this may be the least flashy cast in the series, the production value is definitely the strongest and the plot does feel more memorable considering the recently renewed interest in murder mysteries. The fact that so many of the characters have been struggling to cope with the trauma inflicted upon them from WWII adds more depth than most side characters are usually given in films of any genre.
The only down side is that while Death on the Nile provided some backstory that advanced Detective Poirot’s character arc, all the audience gets this time around is the tried-and-true detective forced out of retirement scenario. Considering how unlikely it was for there to be a third installment in the first place, maybe there will be more chances for Branagh to don his incredible mustache again for another case soon.
Wouldn’t mind if Tina Fey just showed up in every murder mystery either.
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