Right off the bat, this new version of Death on the Nile shows it’s not your Mum and Dad’s whodunit, but rather, something more somber.
A prologue set in the trenches of the Great War shows Hercule Poirot, as a young soldier, already displaying his deductive powers. But there are tragic developments, which explain why Poirot came to adopt his extravagant mustache.
Years later, in 1937, the story proper begins with rich heiress Linnet Ridgeway, who meets Simon Doyle, the fiancée of a childhood friend. Impulsively, she snatches him away.
Before long, Linnet and Simon are honeymooning on a steamer up the Nile. But the spurned woman, Jackie de Bellefort, appears, lurking with intent—or as we call it these days, stalking.
No surprise, Linnet is found dead one morning, from a single gunshot to the head. But Jackie, the most obvious suspect, has an iron-clad alibi. Poirot, also on board, is left to interrogate a passenger list including Linnet’s employees, relatives and so-called friends.
The previous version of the story was filmed in 1978 with a star-studded gallery of suspects. The new cast isn’t as impressive, though it includes Annette Bening, Russell Brand and Gal Gadot, Wonder Woman herself, as Special Guest Victim.
The film, written by Michael Green, often seems glumly determined to suck the frivolity out of the Agatha Christie formula. Bouc (played by Tom Bateman) Poirot’s sidekick in Murder on the Orient Express, returns, but the happy reunion turns out to be ill-fated for both men.
The film includes references to the horrors of war, pain and loss, dirty dancing, a same-sex couple revealed, and Poirot’s emotional desolation. Although, oddly, a biracial romance is shown between two characters and talk about racism in the 1930’s occurs—almost not at all.
Death on the Nile is well-acted, and Branagh’s direction is stylish and energetic. But the film isn’t very effective trying to sail Poirot into darker waters. My feeble little gray cells detect three stars out of five. For the Friday Film Review, I’m Rick Brough.
