A Haunting in Venice

Plot

In 1947, Hercule Poirot lives in retirement in post-war Venice, employing ex-police officer Vitale as a bodyguard. On Halloween, mystery writer Ariadne Oliver convinces Poirot to attend a séance at the palazzo of opera singer Rowena and expose medium Joyce as a fraud. Rowena has hired Joyce to help her commune with her daughter Alicia, who reportedly committed suicide after her fiancé, chef Maxime, broke off their engagement. Among the guests in attendance are Maxime, Rowena's housekeeper Olga, Drake family doctor Leslie and his son Leopold, and Joyce's Romani assistant Desdemona.

During the séance, Poirot deduces that Joyce has two assistants, revealing Desdemona's half-brother Nicholas hiding in the chimney. Joyce suddenly speaks in Alicia's voice and reveals she was murdered by one of the guests. Poirot attempts to confront Joyce, who tells him to lighten up and gives him her mask and robe. Seconds after an unknown assailant nearly drowns Poirot when he is apple bobbing, Joyce is found impaled on a statue in the courtyard.

With a storm cutting off the palazzo, Poirot interviews the guests, during which he witnesses manifestations of Alicia's ghost and hears a young girl humming a tune. The investigation yields perplexing results:

The severely traumatized war veteran Leslie is in love with Rowena.

Maxime, who was not initially invited, broke off his engagement because Rowena did not approve of him, and Alicia was obsessed with keeping her mother happy.

Leopold claims to hear voices from the spirits of children left to die of plague back when the palazzo was an orphanage, as well as the voice Poirot has been hearing. The spirits are said to haunt and kill any doctors or nurses who set foot within it.

Joyce had served as a nurse during World War I.

Nicholas and Desdemona have been stealing from Joyce and intend to use the money to travel to St. Louis, Missouri. Nicholas claims his showmanship was in support of Joyce's genuine visions, but Desdemona says it was all fake.

Cast

Additionally, Rowan Robinson stars as Alicia Drake, Rowena's deceased daughter; while Amir El-Masry portrays Alessandro Longo, a young man seeking Poirot's help; and Vanessa Ifediora plays Sister Maria Felicitas, a nun.

Production

Development

The president of 20th Century Studios, Steve Asbell, revealed in March 2022 that a script for a third Hercule Poirot film had been written by Michael Green, with Branagh set to return as director and star. The film's plot was loosely based on Hallowe'en Party, a lesser-known late Poirot novel. The film was confirmed in October 2022, with Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey, Jude Hill, Kelly Reilly, and Michelle Yeoh in the main cast. Branagh described the film as a "supernatural thriller" rather than a full-fledged horror film.

Filming

Filming began on 31 October 2022, with production occurring on location Venice as well as on D and Q stages at Pinewood Studios.

Locations and sets

For the haunted palazzo, a film set was built in Pinewood Studios, of the immediate surroundings of the palazzo, as well as all the interiors. For inspiration a number of real palaces were used, like the Doge's Palace, the Ca' Sagredo Hotel and the Palazzo Pisani Gritti, also a hotel. The piano nobile (or bel étage) of the building has a fresco inspired by The Wedding of Psyche, a painting by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones. The set of the exterior of the palace was based on the Venetian square Campo San Boldo. Some nighttime scenes were actually shot at that location.

Another set of the palazzo was built in the English town of Reading. This was a one third scale model, to be used for scenes of water splashing against the palace.

The home of Poirot consisted of several locations. The roof terrace, which can be seen at the beginning and the end of the film, is part of the Venice Conservatory. The garden belongs to the Palazzo Malipiero. The Palazzo Malipiero is in the Campo San Samuele. Apart from the garden of the palace other exteriors can be seen in the film, for instance in the scene where Poirot tries to escape the crowd of potential clients waiting at his front door.

San Giorgio Maggiore Island was used for a market scene. The Campiello dei Miracoli and Campo Santa Maria Nova were used for the scene where Ariadne Oliver tries to entice Poirot to participate in a séance. The Piazza San Marco can be seen early in the film, just like the top bell and the figures of St Mark's Clocktower, also on the square.

The Grand Canal was used in the film as well as some of the smaller canals, like Rio dei Mendicanti and Rio del Pestrin. Poirot crosses the iron bridge, Ponte dei Conzafelzi, on this latter canal.

Music

Hildur Guðnadóttir composed the score for the film in April 2023, marking the first in the series not to be composed by Branagh's frequent collaborator Patrick Doyle. The film's soundtrack album was released by Hollywood Records on 15 September 2023.

Release

Theatrical

A Haunting in Venice had its red carpet cinematic première at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square at the West End London on 11 September 2023, but none of the cast members were in attendance due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.

The film was released in the United States on 15 September by 20th Century Studios.

Home media

The film was released on digital platforms on 31 October, followed by a Blu-ray and DVD release on 28 November 2023.

A Haunting in Venice ranked No. 6 on iTunes and No. 3 on Vudu streaming services for the week ending 8 November. It debuted at No. 2 on the Official Film Chart in the UK for the week ending 8 November. The film later ranked No. 2 on the UK home entertainment sales chart for the week ending 22 November. The movie debuted at No. 8 on the overall disc sales chart and No. 11 on the Blu-ray chart for the week ending 2 December 2023. A Haunting in Venice generated 49% of its first-week unit sales from HD Blu-ray, as it did not have a 4K UHD disc release.

Reception

Box office

A Haunting in Venice grossed worldwide a total of US$122.3 million. In the United Kingdom, it became the second highest-grossing horror film of 2023, grossing approximately US$12.5 million. In the United States and Canada, A Haunting in Venice grossed US$42.5 million. It was projected to gross around $12 million from 3,305 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $5.5 million on its first day, including $1.2 million from Thursday night previews (up from Nile's $1.1 million). It went on to debut to $14.3 million, an improvement from Nile's $12.9 million opening, and finished second behind holdover The Nun II. The film made $6.3 million in its second weekend, finishing in third.

Critical response

United States

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 75% of 293 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "A darker and spookier spin on Branagh's Poirot, A Haunting in Venice is a decent Hallowe'en snack whose undemanding mystery gets a lift from nifty visuals and an all-star cast." US aggregator Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 63 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, same as the first two installments, while those polled at PostTrak gave it a 73% overall positive score, with 48% saying they would definitely recommend the film.

Jason Zinoman, writing for The New York Times, called the film a "whodunit with a splash of horror" and wrote: "In straddling genres, Haunting can get stuck in the middle. But there's fun to be had there. What's consistent is the elegant visuals – striking cinematography by Haris Zambarloukos – which mark this movie's real genre as lavish old-fashioned Hollywood entertainment." Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times said: "What lingers from this movie isn't the usual assemblage of clues and red herrings [..] but a free-floating air of grief, much of it rooted in the characters' turbulent memories of the war just a few years earlier". Similar sentiment was echoed by Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post who described the film as "moody"; they both praised the cast's performances.

Matt Zoller Seitz acclaimed the screenplay, direction and production values and said: "Movies are rarely directed in this style anymore". He added that it was an "empathetic portrayal of the death-haunted mentality of people from Branagh's parents' generation". Seitz and critic Michael Phillips (the Chicago Tribune) named it best of Branagh's Hercule Poirot films. The latter found the cast's acting "pretty crafty".

Some critics pointed out that the film struggled in its character development. Kristen Lopez, writing for TheWrap, felt that almost all the characters were underdeveloped due to the attention given to the production values, but praised the performances, singling out Reilly, Dornan and Yeoh.

In a negative review, critic Caryn James found the film "uninvolving" and said: "The new film is much pokier in its pacing, with duller characters". She commended Branagh, Fey and Cottin's performances, while stating that so many actors in the cast were "sleepwalking". In an equally negative review, David Fear of Rolling Stone called the film "anemic and sluggish" and said audiences would be "bored to death."

Future

In October 2024, executive producer James Prichard hinted at possible future installments, stating that much like A Haunting in Venice, future films could potentially break from the norm and add other elements besides the supernatural. "If Ken [Branagh] wants to do more, and Michael [Green] wants to write more, we'll certainly do another. There's a lot of material still to go, so we're not going to run out of inspiration."

That same month, 20th Century Studios boss Steve Asbell confirmed that other Agatha Christie stories will be adapted including And Then There Were None, The Witness for the Prosecution, and a Miss Marple film.