A Haunting in Venice is a 2023 whodunit murder mystery from director Kenneth Branaugh. The film is the third in a trilogy including Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. Each film is based on an Agatha Christie story, with this one being taken from Hallowe’en Party. Venice picks up again with the world renowned detective Hercule Poirot.
After reuniting with an old friend, attending a Halloween party, exposing a seance and nearly being murdered, Poirot faces a challenge unlike anything he has before. Delving into the realm beyond our own and handling supernatural elements- A Haunting in Venice is a surprise.
Before getting into the review, I am putting up a spoiler warning as per usual. I found that my experience worked best not knowing what to expect aside from the spooks. Also as always, let us get the negative stuff out of the way first so we can end on a positive note.
A Haunting in Venice Review
The Negatives- Quick Fixes
Seeing this movie in theaters was a huge gamble for me considering how much I loathed the previous two. Murder on the Orient Express was boring and predictable but not without a few moments of intrigue. The same could not be said for Death on the Nile. Nile was my most disliked new release of 2022 due to basically being irredeemable and devoid of anything at all.
When I say this was a gamble, I truly do not know what came over me when I bought my ticket for this movie. We can talk overall quality in a minute, but this franchise does still suffer from a few glitches that need some mending. This includes some performance issues, camera work, character writing and line deliveries.
Of those listed all of them are easy fixes. The easiest of the bunch is line deliveries. There were quite a few conversations that I can recall the tone completely shifting based on how someone said their lines. It was within these moments of dialogue delivery that I was fearful the whole movie would change. Luckily there were only a couple moments that were strangely kept in, and everything else was okay.
All of this ties into performance issues as well. While no one struck me as bad, I think everyone has at least one scene I think needed some strengthening. The next easiest fix is camera work.
While I admire an attempt at adding some flavor to the film, there were a few scenes I thought the angles were either kept for too long or added absolutely nothing. Generally it is easy to look past camera work that adds nothing, but it was clear they thought they did something special.
Negatives Continued
Quick fixes aside, there are one or two issues that hindered the film a bit. While I thought the pacing was pretty good for the most part, some interrogation scenes felt longer than necessary. Thorough research on a murder case and using that as a moment to connect to the characters is not lost on me. With that said, not everyone was interesting, nor were the scene’s spooks enough to keep me enthralled.
A Haunting in Venice’s runtime is only about 100 minutes which is relatively quick. For the most part, it moves along well enough. Although the story does not start immediately, that is okay since the tone is doing a decent job putting everything into the right mood. I will absolutely watch this movie again, however, I think about a third of this movie is skippable. Within that third there is not much to remember.
The opening bit with the seagull eating the crow, while ultimately pretty pointless, was really cool and helped set the tone. Then things took a little bit to get back into the spooky and the ooky. Some characters will provide you with recaps within the dialogue to remind you why these things are happening. This in itself is not an issue, but this is some precious time I think could have been dedicated to building the tone along with the story or even weaving in some unsuspecting details of the case.
Mash all of these gripes and issues together and pair them with my own lack of much interest in these characters beyond this case. At the end of the day, what makes this movie better than the previous two are how tolerable these characters are. Maybe it is a lot to ask to go from characters I can’t stand in one movie to a total departure with more fleshed out stories. I will take what I can get, though. What can you really do here?
Spooks & Heebies- The Good
As I have noted numerous times already, A Haunting in Venice is not a bad movie. If anything it is a huge surprise! The aforementioned segment of the seagull and the crows was creepy. The movie would have been the same if this was taken out entirely, but I liked it. Of everything going on in this film, the tone was what I was most pleased with overall. Tone, story, and details are the three elements I enjoyed the most.
A Haunting in Venice may not be a perfect movie, nor is it remotely the scariest of the year, but I truly think it is one of the best ways to get into the Halloween season’s spirit. Mix some crashing lightning storms and candle-lit palazzos with visions of g-g-ghosts and baby you got a stew going. Depending on your tolerances for jumpscares and eerie silences- this may be the right movie to get your heebies jeebie-ing proper.
The Journey-More Good
What sets Venice apart from the previous two films is the focus on details rather than people. Part of what makes whodunnits so interesting are the smaller things that matter don’t matter. Subversion is engrained in the DNA of a mystery and finally this series realizes that. The sub-focuses on the flowers and honey should have been major flags that is what should be focused on.
Honey, flowers, life, joy, and fruitfulness are not exactly common characteristics in haunted Venetian homes. Previously it was hard to give any semblance of energy towards the final revelations. However, in Venice, factor in the supernatural elements and this gives a new layer of questioning to Hercule’s thought process.
The unraveling scene is a good one. Every whodunnit needs that big revelation from someone who already knows everything to give the audience some needed answers. Throughout this film we see Poirot’s struggle with understanding this case on top of dealing with the possibility of the supernatural. I truly admire the lengths this movie goes to to turn the logically centered Poirot into someone on the edge of believing.
Poirot finally has an arc! Previously we have seen Poirot as an intelligent detective and that never flew for me. So what if this guy knows a thing or two? In Venice all of his intelligence is on display with an enjoyable addition of stability questioning. All of this said, I want to boil down to one simple thought: this movie is a mystery.
There is finally a detective with clear intelligence, but with visible personality and struggles. Questions are hard to answer for the protagonist, and that is okay. The audience may not be able to explain everything and that is even better. A Haunting in Venice finally works.
Suspects- Good pt. 3
All three films have had super diverse casts of huge names and this one is the best. The group is smaller, sure, but the names are all pretty strong and more than talented enough to carry a movie with the few of them. While I do not think there was any kind of notable chemistry between anyone, there were definitely some good times and fun times on set.
Actually, scratch that, I do think Tinay Fey and Kenneth Branaugh had a convincing chemistry as old friends. Seeing a few cast members in rolls different from what they normally do was a bit of a treat. Spooky Michelle Yeoh worked for me. Jamie Dornan is not someone that I have enjoyed a whole lot of. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar is a movie in a league of its own, and I enjoyed him there.
However I did also enjoy him in this role as the anxious doctor. Dornan worked well in the quiet and sidelined role. While it never occurred to me to try and ask what was making him that way, there was definitely something in the back of my mind the whole time. He is not very good at pretending to be mysterious and interesting, but when he puts himself in roles that put him away from the spotlight, I think he works better there.
I equate this cast to the 2016 WWE Survivor Series 5 man tag match; no one should work here with anyone else, but they all have fun and it works… for some reason.
A Haunting in Venice by Kenneth Branaugh
It is still September, but soon it will be October. The sky is also blue, most days, and the ground is below you. Wonderfully fun facts you already know aside- it is the best time to get into the spooky mood. While I have done a fair bit of praising and raving for this film, A Haunting in Venice is a good enough movie overall, but can serve as a great way to get ready.
Give this movie a shot if you would like. Prepare for the jumpscares just in case this makes its way onto your screen. Have a good time! A Haunting in Venice is a 6/10.
