A Haunting in Venice

2023 film by Kenneth BranaghTemplate:SHORTDESC:2023 film by Kenneth Branagh

***A Haunting in Venice*** is a 2023 American mystery film produced and directed by Kenneth Branagh from a screenplay by Michael Green loosely based on the 1969 Agatha Christie novel *Hallowe'en Party*. It serves as a sequel to *Death on the Nile* (2022) and is the third film in which Branagh reprises his role as the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The ensemble cast includes Kyle Allen, Camille Cottin, Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey, Jude Hill, Ali Khan, Emma Laird, Kelly Reilly, Riccardo Scamarcio, and Michelle Yeoh.

*A Haunting in Venice* was released in the United States on September 15, 2023, by 20th Century Studios. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and has grossed $116 million worldwide.

## Plot

In 1947, Hercule Poirot lives in retirement in Venice, employing ex–police officer Vitale Portfoglio to act as a bodyguard. On Halloween, mystery writer Ariadne Oliver convinces Poirot to attend a Halloween party and séance at the palazzo of famed opera singer Rowena Drake and expose Joyce Reynolds, a World War I army nurse turned medium, as a fraud. The palazzo itself is claimed to be haunted by the spirits of children who, when the palazzo was an orphanage, were locked up and left to die when a plague swept through the city, with rumors that the spirits torment any nurses and doctors who dare to enter.

Rowena has hired Joyce to help her commune with her daughter Alicia, who reportedly committed suicide after her fiancé, chef Maxime Gerard, broke off their engagement. Among the guests in attendance are Maxime, Rowena's housekeeper Olga Seminoff, Drake family doctor Leslie Ferrier and his son Leopold, and Joyce's Romani assistant Desdemona Holland.

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:

* Leslie, severely traumatized by his experiences at the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, 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.
* Nicholas and Desdemona have been stealing from Joyce and intend to use the money to travel to St. Louis, Missouri, which they fell in love with after seeing half of *Meet Me in St. Louis* at a displaced persons camp.
* Leopold claims to hear voices from the spirits of children which are the same voices Poirot has been hearing ever since he was nearly drowned.

When the guests come across an underground chamber containing the skeletal remains of the dead children, Leslie suffers a panic attack and nearly kills Maxime. He is locked inside the music room to recover, Rowena giving Poirot the only key. After examining Maxime's invitation, Poirot deduces Oliver sent it and is conspiring with Vitale. Vitale, who investigated Alicia's death and resigned from the police as a result of the case, gave Joyce private details, while Oliver had hoped to use Poirot's incapability of explaining the supernatural as a plot for her next book. Leslie is then found stabbed to death.

Gathering the remaining guests together, Poirot reveals Rowena is the murderer. Obsessed with keeping Alicia for herself, she cut her off from contact with Maxime after learning they planned to reconcile and used small amounts of poisonous, hallucinogenic honey extracted from rhododendrons to weaken and then care for her. One night, Olga unknowingly gave Alicia tea containing a fatal dose. Rowena, fearful of exposure, staged Alicia's suicide. When she began receiving blackmail threats, Rowena suspected either Joyce or Leslie. She pushed Joyce to her death after mistakenly attempting to drown Poirot and forced Leslie into stabbing himself via the palazzo's internal phone line by threatening to kill Leopold, hoping to pass off both deaths as part of the children's curse. When Poirot confronts Rowena on the roof, Alicia's ghost seems to appear to them both, pulling Rowena down off the building and into the canal where she drowns.

As dawn breaks, Poirot part ways with Oliver, elects not to fire Vitale or unmask his involvement in the séance, and privately exposes Leopold as the blackmailer. Leopold explains he understood the poisoning signs his father missed, making the connection after realizing Rowena's first starring role was in an opera whose lead character is the "king of poisons". Poirot suggests Leopold and Olga clear their consciences by using the money to help the Hollands start a new life in America. After noting the possibility of an afterlife, he returns home to accept new cases.

## Cast

* Kyle Allen as Maxime Gerard, Alicia Drake's ex-fiancé
* Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot, a retired world-renowned Belgian detective
* Camille Cottin as Olga Seminoff, Rowena's housekeeper
* Jamie Dornan as Dr. Leslie Ferrier, a doctor suffering from psychological trauma
* Tina Fey as Ariadne Oliver, Poirot's friend and a crime novelist
* Jude Hill as Leopold Ferrier, Dr. Ferrier's precocious son
* Ali Khan as Nicholas Holland, Reynolds' assistant and Desdemona's half-brother
* Emma Laird as Desdemona Holland, Reynolds' assistant and Nicholas' half-sister
* Kelly Reilly as Rowena Drake, a retired opera singer and Alicia's mother
* Riccardo Scamarcio as Vitale Portfoglio, Poirot's bodyguard and a former police officer
* Michelle Yeoh as Joyce Reynolds, a supposed psychic medium
* Rowan Robinson as Alicia Drake, Rowena's deceased daughter
* Amir El-Masry as Alessandro Longo, a young man seeking Poirot's help

## Production

### Music

*Main article: A Haunting in Venice (soundtrack)*
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 September 15, 2023.

## Release

*A Haunting in Venice* was released in the United States on September 15, 2023, by 20th Century Studios. The film had its red carpet premiere at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square at the West End London on September 11 with none of the cast members in attendance due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.

## Reception

### Box office

As of October 26, 2023[update], *A Haunting in Venice* has grossed $41.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $74.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $116.4 million.

In the United States and Canada, *A Haunting in Venice* 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

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 75% of 277 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A darker and spookier spin on Branagh's Poirot, *A Haunting in Venice* is a decent Halloween snack whose undemanding mystery gets a lift from nifty visuals and an all-star cast." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 63 out of 100 based on 51 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.

TBA

## References

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1. ↑ [TBA *A Haunting in Venice* (12A)] (August 15, 2023).
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 D'Alessandro, Anthony (2023-09-13). [TBA *A Haunting In Venice* Hopes To Scare *Nun 2* From Top Spot At Box Office – Preview].
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Template:Cite The Numbers
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Template:Cite BOM
5. ↑ Vlessing, Etan (2023-07-19). [TBA Kenneth Branagh Battles Supernatural Forces in 'Haunting in Venice' Trailer] (en-US).
6. ↑ [TBA Hildur Guđnadóttir to Score Kenneth Branagh's 'A Haunting in Venice'] (April 26, 2023).
7. ↑ DeVore, Britta (2023-09-13). [TBA *A Haunting in Venice* Unveils a Three-Song Sample of Hildur Guðnadóttir's Score [Exclusive]].
8. ↑ Grobar, Matt (October 11, 2022). [TBA Marvel Shifts Release Dates For 'Blade', 'Fantastic Four', 'Avengers: Secret Wars', Next 'Deadpool' Among Disney Moves].
9. ↑ [TBA "A Haunting In Venice" - Special Screening - VIP Arrivals] (September 11, 2023).
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 [TBA 'Nun 2' Scares Off Poirot To Become Mother Superior Of Box Office With $14.7M Second Weekend].
11. ↑ Anthony D'Alessandro (September 24, 2023). [TBA The Nun 2' Puts 'The Expendables' In Detention At Box Office In What's Shaping Up To Be A Low Weekend For 2023 At $52M].

## External links

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* Template:IMDb

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