McDaniel
The way its mystery unfolds isn’t anything new, but “A Haunting in Venice” remains an entertaining whodunit.
Based on Agatha Christie’s “Hallowe’en Party,” the film marks the final installment in a trilogy that includes “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Death on the Nile.”
It’s 1947, and boldly-mustached Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) has retired to the stunning skyline of Venice, refusing to take any more cases, instead determined to relax and scarf down pastries for the rest of his days.
That’s until an old mystery writer friend, Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey), shows up and convinces him to join her at a Halloween party, and more importantly, a seance performed by a medium named Mrs. Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh) — whom Oliver wants help debunking.
The festivities take place at the creepy home of retired opera singer Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly), whose daughter recently died under mysterious circumstances. Drake says her daughter had been tormented by angry spirits that dwell in the cursed home. Apparently, long ago, the house was used as an orphanage, and during a plague, all of the children were locked inside to await their death.
The night goes as expected, with Poirot proving the seance is a scam, but when the clock strikes midnight, there are screams throughout the chambers. You know the drill by now: There’s been a murder, and Poirot and his extraordinary powers of observation are on the case.
He locks all the doors to keep everyone inside, which is a good thing because the set pieces are a wonderfully chilling backdrop. What unfolds inside the palazzo is something like a game of Clue, only instead of the murder happening in the study with a candlestick, we have the thrilling location of a haunted tower with rumblings of the supernatural.
The sprawling gothic palazzo is full of dimly lit corridors, with exploding light fixtures and leaking ceilings, and all the while, a nasty storm batters the old structure from the outside. While investigating, the detective begins hearing and seeing things, making him start to wonder if the ghost stories are true.
You’ve probably seen a mystery where you make a guess within the first minute, and after everything unfolds, it concludes in the exact way you thought it would. That’s not to say it’s a bad story. It may have been enjoyable; a good mystery doesn’t have to blindside you.
“A Haunting in Venice” feels familiar. It’s not as twisty as “Glass Onion” was. It doesn’t come up with new and unique ways to explain its riddles, but as it works its way through the list of suspects, you’re likely to place your bet on one person, then switch to another, and so on until you realize the story has been crafted in a way that everyone seems like they could be the guilty party.
It’s a well-structured guessing game, and who knows — that inkling in the back of your mind may end up being the truth.
4/5 mustaches
