It would be a cliché to say that Agatha Christie is the queen of whodunnit stories. And yet, her work has been popular among filmmakers for decades. After numerous film and TV series adaptations, the time has come for another Hollywood blockbuster directed by Kenneth Branagh.
A Haunting in Venice follows on from Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. The setting for the crime mystery will be a picturesque Italian city and – if the filmmakers aren’t bluffing – there will be paranormal themes in the story.
But is A Haunting in Venice really a horror? What is the film really about, and who is starring in it? Find out in our article.
A Haunting in Venice release date
Kenneth Branagh’s next film will hit cinemas just in time for the spooky season. A Haunting in Venice will premiere on Friday, 15 September 2023.
20th Century Studios
Where can you buy tickets for A Haunting in Venice?
Tickets for the film are rolling out now. You can get them from:
US
AMC Theatres
Fandango
Atom Tickets
Cinemark
MovieTickets.com
UK
Cineworld
Odeon
Empire
Vue
Showcase
A Haunting in Venice plot
Kenneth Branagh’s new film is based on the novel Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie. The movie is set in post-war Italy, where the once-famous detective, Hercule Poirot, spends his retirement. He is invited to a séance staged in a supposedly haunted palazzo. Events take a dramatic turn, guests panic, and the detective must find a rational explanation of terrifying events and solve the crime mystery.
The official synopsis reads:
A Haunting in Venice is set in eerie, post-World War II Venice on All Hallows’ Eve, A Haunting in Venice is a terrifying mystery featuring the return of the celebrated sleuth, Hercule Poirot. Now retired and living in self-imposed exile in the world’s most glamorous city, Poirot reluctantly attends a séance at a decaying, haunted palazzo. When one of the guests is murdered, the detective is thrust into a sinister world of shadows and secrets.
This is quite a deviation from the source material. In Christie’s novel, the action is set in England, and it starts at the Halloween party that Poirot and his friend, crime fiction writer Ariadne Oliver, attend.
During the event, 13-year-old Joyce Reynolds reveals that as a child, she saw a murder, although she didn’t know what she had witnessed at the time. Although the teenager’s words are treated with disbelief, the girl is soon murdered. Hercule Poirot tries to unravel the mystery of her death, the roots of which clearly lie in the past.
Kenneth Branagh not only changed the story’s title and moved the action to Italy but decided to change the conventions. While the book pays homage to the classic whodunnit scheme, the film strikes a gothic note. At this point, it is difficult to say whether A Haunting in Venice will be an actual paranormal story or whether all the uncanny events will have a rational explanation.
20th Century Studios
While working on the film, cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos was inspired by thrillers such as In Cold Blood and The Innocents and the famous Japanese horror film Kwaidan.
A Haunting in Venice cast
The following cast members are confirmed to appear in the movie:
- Kenneth Branagh – Hercule Poirot
- Tina Fey – Ariadne Oliver
- Michelle Yeoh – Joyce Reynolds
- Jaime Dornan – Mr. Ferrier
- Jude Hill – Leopold Ferrier
- Kelly Reilly – Rowena Drake
- Emma Laird – Desdemona Holland
- Kyle Allen – Maxime Gerard
- Camille Cottin – Olga Seminoff
- Ali Khan – Nicholas Holland
- Riccardo Scamarcio – Vitale Portfoglio
A Haunting in Venice trailers
The film’s first teaser is an invitation to a séance:
The official trailer for the film takes you on a journey through the nightmare of the ruined palazzo: