While director and star Kenneth Branagh’s A Haunting in Venice is arguably his best Hercule Poirot adaptation to date, the murder mystery inexplicably reveals the killer’s identity in its opening scene. A Haunting in Venice is the third adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel by director Kenneth Branagh. The screen veteran assembled another impressive cast for this loose adaptation of Christie’s later Hercule Poirot novel, Halloween Party. The Halloween Party is an unusually cynical and dark story that differs from the light-hearted comedy of Poirot’s previous novels. Now you can stream A Haunting In Venice 2023 full movie in HD quality on Myflixer for free without any subscription.
Almost every character in A Haunting in Venice is very different from their book counterpart. Tina Fey’s Ariadne Oliver is still the best-selling mystery writer, who based her most famous character on Poirot, but she is a scheming and charismatic charmer, while Christie’s character was an absent-minded fool. Joyce Reynolds is no longer a loud little girl, but a mysterious medium played by Michelle Yeoh. Even Leopold, an unstable young man who is the victim of a cruel fate in the novel, plays a much changed supporting role in A Haunting in Venice.
Rowena Drake immediately leaves a haunted house in Venice
Since A Haunting in Venice largely discards the characters and setting of a Halloween party, Christie fans might reasonably assume that this is a rare Poirot adaptation in which the audience cannot guess the killer. However, while the reveal of A Haunting in Venice’s killer is completely different from the original novel, Branagh’s film ups the ante from the start. Rowena Drake’s first on-screen appearance makes her murderous status extremely clear, as her take on her sees her in a position that combines the two methods of murder she chose. Rowena is first seen following a girl who is crying loudly for fear of falling off a high balcony.
The ending reveals that Joyce, the main victim of A Haunting in Venice, died when she was pushed from this balcony. Meanwhile, the twist also reveals that Rowena’s youngest daughter, Alyssa, also died a year earlier when Rowena threw her body off the roof of the building in a similar manner. There are many differences between A Haunting in Venice and Halloween Party, but once the audience sees Rowena standing holding a female character near a high drop, it doesn’t take much mental effort to guess that she strangled Joyce to death and abandoned her.
A ghost in Venice does not hide her murderer well
A Haunting in Venice is Branagh’s strongest Poirot film to date, balancing story tension, horror elements, exceptional comic relief, and grim sadness better than even Christie’s Halloween Party. However, the film never does much to hide Rowena’s guilt. Even if the audience missed her initial introduction, Rowena is also the one who gives Poirot the key to the room where Dr. Ferrier rests. This means that Ferrier’s murderer can only be him or Poirot, making it much easier to identify the murderer. It is surprising that although Branagh’s A Haunting in Venice has a reputation as an excellent adaptation of Poirot, the mystery itself is one of its weak points.
