Whatever your opinion of Kenneth Branagh’s Poirot, the man sure knows how to assemble a great cast. Both Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile were bristling with top actors, with the upcoming new entry A Haunting in Venice including Michelle Yeoh, Jude Hill, Jamie Dornan, Kyle Allen and, of course, Branagh himself as Agatha Christie’s moustachioed detective.
Branagh’s Poirot films are something of an anomaly in the current cinema landscape, delivering the kind of moviegoing experience that was more common in the 1960s and 70s. They’re profitable but not mega-blockbusters, don’t have an over-arching multi-movie arc, and don’t leave a dent in wider popular culture. This has led one commentator to (perhaps unfairly) describe him as “a filmmaker with the George Costanza mindset“:
For those of you unfamiliar with classic 1990s sitcoms, Seinfeld‘s George Costanza was renowned for his insecurities, laziness, and odd sense of cunning – famously once dramatically quitting his job on Friday and deciding to sidle back on Monday and act like the whole thing was a joke. Is Branagh trying to pull the same tactic for an easy payday?
All that said, we suspect Branagh’s Poirot saga isn’t just aimed at us. He’s identified a gap in the market for making movies aimed at older (perhaps even retired) cinemagoers, and judging by the decent box office returns, he may have hit the nail on the head.
Besides, after two relatively grounded murder mysteries, we can only respect a man who decides to bash the “GHOSTS” button and go full supernatural in the third installment. Maybe A Haunting in Venice will prove to be a Scooby-Doo-style spectral hoax, but we’re really hoping for actual bona fide apparitions in this movie.
A Haunting in Venice will arrive on Sep. 15.