An expert detective must come out of retirement when a Halloween soiree ends in murder. The third in the film series based on Agatha Christie’s novels, A Haunting in Venice is a throwback murder mystery that offers some new tricks to freshen up the franchise while adding some atmospheric haunts in time for Halloween.
Now living peacefully in Venice, famed former detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) is invited to a party on All Hollow’s Eve by an old friend, writer Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey). The evening is hosted in an old palazzo by its owner Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly), still reeling from her daughter’s tragic death.
Given the home itself has a haunting past, Rowena invites a medium (Michelle Yeoh) to perform a séance, hoping to connect with her daughter. While ghost stories run rampant within the home, Poirot is skeptical of the spiritual world.
But when one of the guests winds up dead, and a vicious storm brewing outside, Poirot locks them all inside to find out who did it — ghost or not.
A Haunting in Venice takes a surprising turn, going the route of a supernatural thriller ready to give audiences ghostly visions and a few good scares. From the first trailer, it was clear this film wasn’t riding on the same train or boat as its predecessors.
While Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile were entertaining callbacks to old-school sleuth films and had the style to go along, it often felt like they were more focused on their overflowing A-list casts. This installment dials that back somewhat, allowing you to lose yourself in the mystery.
Branagh is clearly enjoying transforming into Poirot and proves he is ready and willing to take the series in new directions, having directed all the films while starring as the iconic detective.
While we still get that ensemble cast to offer plenty of suspects, an air of fun is brought into the series as it delivers a different, moodier tone with frights, unlike the previous installments, albeit through some unnecessary diegetic moments.
Though this is only Branagh’s second foray into horror—not since 1994’s Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein—he was able to balance the notion of the supernatural well within the sense of reality this series is set.
With A Haunting in Venice, there’s a concise story with pleasant pacing and a winding canal of fun twists. While its tone is unexpected for the series, especially in its third chapter, it gives new energy to Branagh’s character and vision.
A Haunting in Venice is in theaters this Friday
Jordy Reviews It 
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