2023, Kenneth Branagh (Belfast) -- Disney
Do we call this the Poirot Cinematic Universe? Given there were so many books and so many movies & TV series produced from Agatha Christie's books, Branagh could go on and on. But we need to have our first spin-off movie first to officially have a PCU.
It's 1947 and Poirot (Kenneth Branagh, Dunkirk) has retired from figuring out other people's shit. He lives in Venice and is learning to have things not quite perfectly. And he needs a bodyguard to keep the constant throng of clients that line up outside his door like he's a star on a Hollywood tour. But then his American friend Ariadne (Tina Fey, Only Murders in the Building) shows up to convince him to help her debunk a medium (Michelle Yeoh, Star Trek: Discovery) being used by an opera singer (Kelly Reilley, Sherlock Holmes) to contact her deceased daughter. Ariadne is all kinds of self-serving (wait, see note above about PCU -- is she the first spin-off contender?), and is really only doing this to have Poirot not debunk the charlatan, giving her tons of source material for a new book. He last few books didn't do so well. But there is also a modicum of true friendship, as she knows Poirot needs to get out of palazzo and live some life, instead of just hiding away.
The seance happens on imported American Halloween. The night begins with the opera singer inviting a gaggle of kids into her "haunted house" to have a fun night, before she focuses on the seance. To be clear, the house was haunted before her daughter died, and there are rumours her daughter was influenced by the ghosts in the house to kill herself. Poirot is charmed by the children's frivolity but annoyed by the rest of the setup.
The seance goes as expected, and almost immediately Poirot finds the medium's co-conspirators and their toys of ghost making. The medium doubles down and spins her chair around, shouting in ghosty voices. Not long after she is killed, and Poirot is hooked. He locks all the doors, as he knows someone in the house did it. And thus begins a long night of investigating and suspicion.
The (living) children have long since departed the house, and a massive storm is raging outside, raising the water levels in Venice, threatening the house. And weird spooky shit is happening to everyone in the house, including Poirot himself. He is seeing things, hearing things. Everyone is at everyone else's throats and tensions are high. An attempt is made on Poirot's own life. There are calls from disconnected phone lines. The basement rings with loud booming sounds. Poirot is acting a little ... off.
But, of course, he seemingly pulls it all out of thin air by morning. Its not really the reveal of the mystery that is fun in these stories/movies but the winding path they take to get there, and how every seemingly disparate thread actually ties into the reveal. I didn't find this one as vibrant in its performances as the others, and to be honest, that was all marred by the desire to be "spooky". What we enjoy about Poirot is him being brilliant, not questioning his ability as he is impaired by outside influences. But still, Branagh did it brilliantly as expected.
Whodidit? Go watch it.
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