This is the third film in the series featuring director Kenneth Branagh adapting Agatha Christie’s classic detective character Hercule Poirot. We have seen Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile, both of which were fine, if unremarkable. The next film was A Haunting in Venice, based on Christie’s 1969 novel Hallowe’en Party.

A Haunting in Venice, however, is definitely my favorite of the three films by far.

Poirot has retired from detective work, practically removing himself from society in Venice, despite people hanging out outside his home hoping to get him to work cases.

When his old friend, author Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey), who had made Poirot famous with her novels, came to see him, she asked Poirot to accompany her to attempt to debunk a psychic named Mrs. Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh).

The psychic was brought to a haunted house in Venice where a young girl (Alicia Drake) had committed suicide and her mother (Kelly Reilly) was desperate to contact her again.

The film did a fantastic job creating the mood. There was so much tension and anxiety throughout the story. Some of the shots from Branagh created an amazing feel, a claustrophobic or uneasy sense for the viewer.

Kenneth Branagh’s performance as Hercule Poirot has been the highlight of all three of these movies. Branagh and his mustache are the stars of this story. I love how the story incorporates Poirot’s own troubles and self-doubts from years of challenges and stress. He had lost himself from the years and part of this movie is the attempt to find his mojo.

The ensemble cast of the film is great, including Tina Fey, Michelle Yeoh, Alicia Drake, Kelly Reilly, Jamie Dornan, Jude Hill, Camille Cottin, Riccardo Scamarcio and Amir El-Masry.

The mystery really worked well. I loved how the pieces of the story was revealed slowly through the interrogations of Poirot and his superstar observations. Even when you believe that Poirot was not firing on all cylinders because there was something supernatural going on, he comes through big time.

This movie is creepy, stylistic, and filled with suspense. I have very little to criticize here. I can see some people may think it is a little slow with some of the scenes, but not for me. For me, this was paced beautifully. There were amazing shots of Venice and individual shots that were constructed with purpose and artistic flair. A Haunting in Venice was an excellent film.

4.75 stars