“A Haunting in Venice” (2023)

A Haunting in Venice

Grade: C

By default, actor/director Kenneth Branagh’s A Haunting in Venice might somehow be the “best” of his Hercule Poirot adaptations, but the film is unfortunately all style, no substance. Just because Branagh had a fun time making it doesn’t mean we’ll have a fun time watching it. It’s easy to see right through his stylish visuals.

Directing:

Even though Branagh’s career behind the camera has been middling at best, his passion and prolificacy for filmmaking is impressive. Nonetheless, his craft is still in need of work. This is his 20th directorial effort, but he turns in the work of a freshman in film school. By framing every shot as a relentless showcase of technical wizardry, the fancy camera movement quickly becomes intoxicatingly garish. Instead of letting the mystery be, Branagh forces the issue — distracting us to the point where we lose interest in the mystery entirely.

Acting:

So much focus is given to the complex camerawork that characterization is an afterthought, with all emotion relentlessly drained away. Likewise, the performances fail to match the elaborate directing anyway: Branagh’s Poirot lacks charisma, Tina Fey’s Ariadne Oliver feels out of place and the rest of the suspects fail to make a mark. Only Michelle Yeoh’s Rashomon-esque clairvoyant leaves an impression, but she’s gone much too soon. It’s unfortunate we’re solving her murder.

Writing:

Based on an Agatha Christie mystery novel, all the pieces for A Haunting in Venice to be a success are there for the taking: spooky setting, an ultraviolent murder, supernatural ambiguities, Venetian masks, etc. Unfortunately, and improbably, the movie doesn’t know what to do with the material. Is this a horror film? A whodunnit? A supernatural thriller? It’s boring, that much I know for sure. By not committing to any semblance of coherence, A Haunting in Venice loses all elements of fun. I sleepwalked through the whole story, and I’m pretty sure the actors did too.

Music:

Bad movie, good music: I thoroughly enjoyed the score by Icelandic cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir, who won an Academy Award in 2019 for her work on Todd Phillips’ Joker. She brings an Old Hollywood elegance to what should be an entertaining haunted house flick. Her contributions are the only elements that match what the movie should be.

Ending (SPOILERS):

Branagh’s sense of style is so overwhelming that looking for clues and motives and red herrings in this mystery is quite impossible. Poirot’s final reveal loses luster since it was so difficult to pay attention to the plot in the first place. I’ll take his word that the mother did it, even if her plan seemed to be as cumbersome and contrived as the filmmaking itself.

“Listening…” – Mrs. Reynolds

Why A Haunting in Venice gets a C

As dull and artificial as Death on the Nile (2017) and Murder on the Orient Express (2019). Wants to be as cerebral as Scorsese’s Shutter Island (2010) or Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley (2019), but is instead as dumb as O. Russell’s Amsterdam (2022).

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