By our entertainment editors
Sep 14, 2023 at 11:20 AM Update: 26 minutes ago
Director and actor Kenneth Branagh has adapted an Agatha Christie detective story for the third time. Reviewers could Murder On The Orient Express in Death On The Nile don’t really appreciate it. A Haunting in Venice is a little more to the taste.
NRC – 3 stars
“Happy offers A Haunting in Venice also suspense: Poirot only has to wash his hands and there is already a fresh corpse, countless perpetrators and motives emerge and the question is also whether what we see is real, a hallucination or even an apparition.”
“So much happens in the cellars, salons and attic of the palazzo that the rather far-fetched and not very plausible murder plan is almost an anticlimax. That too is Christie: more puzzle than adventure. But Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot can, in my opinion, continue for a while. along.”
AD – 3 stars
“Sadness and trauma sometimes transcend our comprehension, as Poirot, usually imbued with logic, teaches. An interesting theme that takes the somewhat predictable mystery plot to a slightly higher level. But it is the sets, the costumes, the atmospheric camera work and the neurotic soundtrack that to stick. A Haunting in Venice is a tasty treat, especially from an audiovisual point of view.”
Het Parool – gives no stars
“The setting, a dilapidated palazzo during Halloween, sets the tone for a gothic horror story. The dynamic camera provides a layered experience of what could have been a superficial whodunit.”
“The relative simplicity of the mystery is not a problem, because the film is visually richer than its predecessors. If his Poirot series seemed like a lifeless passion project, Branagh has the merit of his series with A Haunting of Venice proven.”
Trouw – 3 stars
“Visually it is a fairly spartan adaptation of Christie’s story: the palazzo is bare and sparsely furnished. In most places no light from outside penetrates, not even during the day. Branagh uses that sparse setting together with a whole series of shock effects to make this Christie to make a real ghost story. This story could very well have that.”
de Volkskrant – 3 stars
“Will the rational detective Hercule Poirot (played by Branagh himself, with increasing panache) have to admit that there is more between heaven and earth? It’s not terribly important – as pleasant as it is to watch A Haunting in Venice Watching it, that’s how quickly the film disappears from memory.”
De Telegraaf – 2.5 stars
“Things only really go wrong at the denouement. To be clear: Christie cannot be blamed for this. Her story was heavily adapted for this film adaptation. The result is a long series of intrigues that actually no longer fit together.”
“The pieces of the puzzle fall into place in a frenetic explanation, full of bizarre twists and far-fetched assumptions. What was an entertaining experience for a long time, still ends in disappointment.”
2023-09-14 09:20:31
#Review #overview #Haunting #Venice #Poirot #Movies #Series
