Death on the Nile (2022)

I've enjoyed both Branagh's Agatha Christie adaptations. He brings his visually exciting directing style to his narrative and his bombastic thespian qualities to his performance to craft luscious films featuring Christie's enjoyable mystery puzzles basically being just a whole lot of big screen fun. Death on the Nile is a warm confection of cinema.

While I've never read the novel this is based on, I understand the film takes quite a few liberties with the story, rearranging characters and their relationships to each other, introducing Bateman's fan favourite Bouc from The Orient Express, and diversifying the cast so it reflects the real world. Don't worry, the murder and its culprits remain the same. It's a good little mystery playing some games with our heads. Christie spun a good yarn here and Branagh and Green play with it in clever funs ways. 

The film has some spotty CGI but generally is stunning to watch on the big screen. You feel hot watching it as it convinces you you are in the heat of an Egyptian summer. Branagh creates a claustrophobia for his characters stuck on a boat with a killer. It has that fun everyone-is-a-suspect unease to it that the best mysteries need. But Branagh adds more. 

With Green, he uses this film to take Poirot from being a rather gimmicky character into one with depth and back story. He still remains a big C character, but his oddities are played less for laughs and his own motivations and complexities are fleshed out a bit. With Death on the Nile, Branagh knows he's telling a fun little parlour story but he doesn't let that stop him from infusing it with layers that enrich its experience. One might try to reduce this to a why-he-wears-a-big-gaudy-moustache but that's missing a lot of the undercurrents here. The facial hair is just a metaphor for more of what they are trying to tell us. 

It was delightful to see Saunders and French together here although I wish they had more hilarity to pull off. While the two can't quite help being funny, the film doesn't lean into this and it feels like there is a missed opportunity there. Batemen remains as charming and delightful as he was in the previous film, remaining one of the best parts of this series. I was sad about one development in his arc but for me his inclusion here was well worth the changes it brought. But I'd say it was Sophie Okonedo who stole my focus for most of the film. Her blues singer (another change from the novel) is just exciting every time she's on screen. 

Death on the Nile did make me want more Poirot stories set in this universe and Branagh return to play (and direct) him. 

Death on the Nile

Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Tom Bateman, Gal Gadot, Annette Benning, Russell Brand, Emma Mackay, Sophie Okonedo, Letitia Wright, Ali Fazel, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Rose Leslie

Director: Kenneth Branagh

Writer: Michael Green