How do you tell a story when everyone already knows the ending?

Rating: 8/10 (10 November 2017)

Agatha Christie was the queen of all things murder, and in perhaps her most quintessential story, she gives us an ending so incredibly inventive, so inspired, that few have dared repeat it. For the few of you who haven't read or seen Murder on the Orient Express before or had it spoiled for you, I won't tell you the ending. Suffice to say, it's extremely unpredictable and could only have been done by Agatha Christie.
But for those of us who do know the story, how do you make it entertaining when we all know how it ends? Therein lies the genius that is Kenneth Branaugh. In the next installment of a stellar career, Branaugh shifts focus from the comedies of Shakespeare to the suspense of Agatha Christie and proves that his talent knows no bounds. Expertly directed and wonderfully cast, Branaugh's adaption keeps all the charm, glamour and suspense that Christie intended, while modernizing it for a younger audience. And for those who say the story is no longer relevant, I argue that Branaugh's true genius lies in the ability to make a period piece as just that: a period piece. While the story itself may not be as relevant as it was in its day, the lessons behind it are just as true today as they ever were. In perhaps her greatest work, Agatha Christie blurs the very lines of good and evil and causes even the great Poirot to question his long held morality.
Was it necessary? Maybe not. But is that really the point? It's entertaining, the cinematography was beautiful (the murder scene especially), and it stayed true to the source material. I for one, thoroughly enjoyed it.
Now, can we all please petition Kenneth Branaugh to remake And Then There Were None?