By Seth Lukas Hynes
Death on the Nile
Starring Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot and Tom Bateman
Rated M
Death on the Nile is a compelling, sumptuous adaptation of Agatha Christie’s iconic novel.
Famous detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) must solve a murder on an Egyptian cruise.
The plot takes a while to get going, but the slow pacing is richly-textured and deeply absorbing. The film thoroughly establishes its characters and develops their grudges against the victim, providing fertile ground for Poirot’s deduction and our suspicions once the murder occurs. The plot features subtle clues and some clever misdirects, and adds a personal dimension to the mystery, which was largely absent in Murder on the Orient Express, Branagh’s 2017 first Poirot film.
Branagh is still fun as Poirot, playing him as a strange but kind man with sharp instincts. Something of a soft reboot of Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile offers a more nuanced insight into Poirot’s personality. The World War I opening establishes the trauma and loss in Poirot’s past, which explains his obsessive, reserved nature, but Poirot slowly opens himself to personal connection again through his friendship with Bouc (Tom Bateman) and his endearingly awkward chemistry with jazz singer Salome (Sophie Okonedo).
The cinematography is stunning, and the first act in particular has an opulent, sexy aura. The cast is uniformly excellent, and the stand-out actor is Emma Mackey, who delivers a steely, layered performance as Jacqueline, a bitter former friend of the victim.
The only notable issues are Poirot’s lost love feeling somewhat underdeveloped alongside his battlefield trauma, and since most of the suspects have a relatively small share of screen-time, when a second murder occurs it’s not immediately clear who the victim is.
Death on the Nile is a dazzling character-driven mystery led by a talented star and director, and is playing in most Victorian cinemas.
– Seth Lukas Hynes
