I am not a purist when it comes to Agatha Christie, nor for that matter her creation, the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. I have read minimal Christie and am probably more familiar with the author's iconic portrayal by actress Fenella Woolgar in the 2008 Doctor Who episode "The Unicorn & the Wasp" than I am of the actual person. So when I watch a movie adaptation of her work, I am not judging it based on how faithful it is to her writing.

And so, while I understand that avid Christie fans dislike the 2023 film A Haunting in Venice, starring and directed by Kenneth Branagh, because elements of the plot and, more importantly, aspects of the character of Christie's most famous detective are not true to the 1969 novel Hallowe'en Party on which it is based, I can honestly say I liked it for what it was.

I feel like I've been here before. Having watched and thoroughly enjoyed Branagh's Death on the Nile in 2022 (reviewed here on 16 July 2022), I have been looking forward to giving this one a try. As I noted in my previous review, my lack of familiarity with the story is in some ways a boon. "I did not know the plot in advance, consequently I did not know who the inevitable murder victim (or victims) would be, nor did I have advance knowledge of the culprit," I wrote at the time. "This allowed me to make my own educated guesses, as the story advanced -- which is a lot more fun, for me, than knowing ahead of time how things will end." (I'm not sure why, by the way, I haven't yet watched Branagh's first entry in the series, 2017's Murder on the Orient Express.)

So, while I freely admit that Christie purists might gnash their teeth and howl at the moon over the changes to the original story, they didn't bother me because I didn't know they existed. And, based solely on the merits of the movie, it's quite good. (And gnash and howl they do! After writing this review, I perused some others on the movie and found quite a lot of rage among Christie fans. To be fair, as I understand things, A Haunting in Venice has little in common with Hallowe'en Party besides the names of its characters.)

But, let's look at the movie.

Poirot (Branagh) is living in Venice, restless in his semi-retirement, when a friend, author Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey) begs him to join her at a Halloween party hosted by retired opera star Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly) so he can debunk a medium, Joyce Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh), who will host a seance at the party and, so Ariadne insists, can convincingly talk with ghosts. The fact that Rowena's beloved daughter Alicia (Rowan Robinson) was allegedly driven mad by ghosts in that house before killing herself adds extra spice to the atmosphere of the party, as does the home's history as an orphanage, where children allegedly were abandoned to die in the Plague and still haunt the premises with violent intentions.

Poirot, of course, is a skeptic of anything supernatural, but he is notoriously adept at ferreting out the heart of evil deeds. When Joyce is murdered shortly after the seance, he is of course on the case.

Joyce is only the first victim, of course. And, by the end, Poirot's doubts about the spirit world will be shaken.

Branagh is excellent as Poirot, and the rest of the cast makes for a strong ensemble. A Haunting in Venice might not be the story Christie wrote, but it's a thrilling, deeply atmospheric film that captures the tone, if not the words, of the author's work. I would love to see more movies in this vein, let the purists gnash and howl as much as they like. (Remember, people, the making of a movie does not in any way alter the existence of the book! You can read it at any time!!)