Death on the Nile (2022)

Death on the Nile (2022)

4/10

 Starring

Kenneth Branagh

Tom Bateman

Annette Bening

Russell Brand

Ali Fazal

Dawn French

Gal Gadot

 

Directed by Kenneth Branagh

The claustrophobic setting of Murder on the Orient Express made it very appealing to see Poirot solve the case in such tight circumstances. Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of the film in 2017 was a joyful ride, even though it felt a tad dull at times. His portrayal of Poirot didn’t quite capture the magic of Albert Finney or Peter Ustinov in their respective adaptations. And while I believe both of them outshine Branagh’s portrayal, none of the three compares to David Suchet, who played Poirot to perfection for nearly two decades.

This new take on another Agatha Christie masterpiece sees Branagh once again working both in front of and behind the camera. Unfortunately, it shares many of the same flaws as his first outing as Poirot.

There’s something about this movie’s plot that frustrates me, especially in the way Branagh chose to adapt it. The film is overladen with needless CGI that’s far too obvious to ignore. Branagh also seemed determined to outsmart Christie by adding unnecessary elements, as though he wanted to upstage her in her own story. Christie’s genius lies in her ability to take complex plots and make them easy to follow without unnecessary detours. Branagh did the opposite.

For example, Christie’s book doesn’t delve into Poirot’s past, his time in the war, or how he got his mustache. Nor does it feature the overly dramatized sexual tension between two characters that Branagh decided to include. The scene by the Egyptian statue, meant to highlight the passion between Linnet (Gal Gadot) and Simon (Armie Hammer), felt forced and entirely unnecessary. It was a needless addition that didn’t serve the plot.

The original book and the previous two adaptations have a way of keeping you on edge with their intricate details—twin guns, nail polish, jewelry theft, blackmail, and murder all intertwining seamlessly. The story unfolds aboard a luxury steamer cruising along the Nile, where Linnet and Simon are on their honeymoon. Linnet, an heiress, had stolen Simon from her best friend Jacqueline, leading to a hasty marriage and an attempt to escape Jacqueline’s wrath.

The murder occurs when Linnet is shot in the head. Everyone on board becomes a suspect, as it turns out they all have a connection to Linnet and something to gain from her death. The setup is so carefully crafted that even Poirot must dig deep to uncover the killer—or killers.

While I prefer the 1978 adaptation of Death on the Nile, the 2004 version from the ITV series Poirot with David Suchet is unbeatable. Suchet’s performance as Poirot is reason enough to watch it if you haven’t already.

This film’s ensemble cast of A-list actors should have delivered stellar chemistry, but instead, it felt disjointed. The central relationship—Linnet and Simon’s romance—needed to anchor the plot, but Gal Gadot and Armie Hammer lacked any real chemistry. Their union felt forced, with Gadot often looking like she’d rather be anywhere else, a detail too glaring to ignore.

To Branagh’s credit, some tweaks to the story were made to add diversity, which I appreciated. However, the poor pacing and bloated runtime undermined the film’s impact. By the halfway point, Linnet was still alive, and I found myself impatiently waiting for someone to kill her already. The slow pacing and unnecessarily long buildup made it a wonder I didn’t fall asleep.