Venice, 1947. Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) has retired and keeps prospective clients at bay with the aid of his ex-policeman bodyguard Vitale (Ricardo Scamarcio). That is of course until old friend and author Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey) persuades him to go to a seance. Where of course a murder is committed forcing Poirot to investigate. 

The set up and premise is classic murder mystery fare and infinitely interesting. A reluctant detective who does not believe in spirits finds himself spending the night in a haunted palazzo trapped with a handful of suspects. Of course a storm has whipped up into a frenzy outside cutting off phone lines and preventing the guests from seeking help. All of the guests have secrets and one of them must be the murderer. 

The seance is for the benefit of opera singer Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly) who wants to speak to her beloved daughter who died a few years earlier. Her housekeeper Olga (Camille Cottin) is convinced the house is haunted as a result of its previous life as an orphanage and refuses to spend the night there. Whilst family friend and doctor Leslie (Jamie Dornan) and his son Leo (Jude Hill) both suffer from ghosts they claim to see. And to round out the guests you have the daughters ex-fiancée (Dylan Corbett-Bader) and of course the medium (Michelle Yeoh). 

For his third outing as Poirot, Kenneth Branagh has done something a little different. The outstanding costumes and set design remains. But this time the setting lends itself to an entry level horror film replete with jump scares and frights that will have some less used to the genre a little on edge. Early on in the set up we see a children’s silhouette show on Halloween and a character suggests this might be a bit too scary for the children. The response is that scary stories make real life less scary. And given that this film carries a 12A certification hopefully not too many of you will have been scared off by the trailer as this is a lot of fun. 

Cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos and Branagh have an absolute ball with the camera set up and look and feel of the film. Filled to the brim with Dutch angles, close ups and fish eye lenses the goal is to constantly keep you at a disadvantage and on edge. By the time Branagh uses the SnorriCam method (where the camera is physically attached to him as he moves around) I was absolutely loving what I was watching. 

Branagh as with his other entries in this series is excellent but he is backed up by the others involved with the stand out being Tina Fey. Her comedic chops allow her to add a nice edge to her character that keeps things light and she work’s really well as the sidekick that Poirot uses as he interviews everyone. Fey is clearly a good fit for these murder mysteries given how much fun she is in “Only Murders In The Building” on the small screen as well. 

A definite improvement on the misfiring Death On The Nile (2022) and arguably more fun than the opening movie Murder on the Orient Express as it feels more focused and more fun.