Death on the Nile

Death on the Nile

Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot boards a glamorous river steamer with enough champagne to fill the Nile. But his Egyptian vacation turns into a thrilling search for a murderer when a picture-perfect couple’s idyllic honeymoon is tragically cut short.

  • Released: 2022-02-09
  • Runtime: 127 minutes
  • Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
  • Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot, Letitia Wright, Armie Hammer, Annette Bening, Ali Fazal, Sophie Okonedo, Tom Bateman, Emma Mackey, Dawn French, Rose Leslie, Jennifer Saunders, Russell Brand, Adam Garcia, Rick Warden, John Wolfe, George Jaques, Victor Alli, Jonah Rzeskiewicz, James Schofield, Susannah Fielding, Michael Rouse, Alaa Safi, Orlando Seale, Charlie Anson, Danny Hughes, Sam James Page, Eleanor de Rohan, Noel White, Niamh Lynch, Rosie Dwyer, Nari Blair-Mangat, Sid Sagar, Brenda-Jane Newhouse, Rhiannon Clements, Daniel Cook, Heider Ali, Hayat Kamille, Crispin Letts, Rachel Feeney, Sarah Eve, Aron Julius, Francis Lovehall, Stacy Abalogun, Naveed Khan, Katie Smale, Kemi Awoderu, Lauren Alexandra, Nikkita Chadha, Nadine Leon Gobet
  • Director: Kenneth Branagh
 Comments
  • naly202 - 30 June 2024
    Mixed feelings about this one.
    I watched this movie hoping for a stellar cast. I mean why not? Most of Branagh's movies have two redeamable qualities : grand settings and a congregation of legendary actors. He managed that for Orient Express, so why not now?

    Also it had such a great precedent: Peter Ustinov's version had Bette Davies, Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, Mia Farrow, to name but a few.

    This version does have a handful of stars, but not on the legendary level.

    On the other hand, this movie goes out of its way to be inclusive: lesbians, all sorts of skin colours, and nationalities, as if it wanted to tick some points on an agenda.

    All this at the cost of vital plot elements, characters are changed or smushed together... I guess Ken thought he'd improve on an already perfect mystery. Pretty infuriating.

    Lol, here we get an explanation for the ridiculous moustache. Nice touch, but it defies logic. As far as I know, hair doesn't grow on a scar.

    And why is an intelligent, soft spoken detective threatening people with a gun? Is he taking hostages now?

    Btw, it seems that everyone despises the detective in this one. I say "detective" , because this is NOT the Hercule Poirot I know. Sorry.

    Sometimes I wonder if K B even read the source material, or watched the previous versions. If you make an Agatha Christie movie, you should be aware that her fans are obsessed with historical accuracy, glamour, plot and details. And above all, they LOVE Poirot, and know him intimately : background, excentricities, faults and virtues. (there was no Catherine in his life. I do remember a Countess Rosakoff, though)

    Still, if you take out all the minuses, Kenneth Branagh's "Death on the Nile" is an enjoyable movie, the actors are good and act their parts well, even Ken does his best. The scenery is spectacular and the music intense.

    Well worth watching! Just one thing: you need to forget it's a Poirot film.
  • mark.waltz - 10 March 2024
    No denial. Better than I expected.
    Usually remakes of classic films or modern versions of classic novels disappoint me, and while I wasn't intrigued by the lack of names in the cast I wasn't familiar with, I soon became engaged in this version of Agatha Christie's novel which is at good enough to call watchable. Unlike Peter Ustinov (replacing Albert Finney as Poirot) in the 1978 film, Kenneth Branagh gets to play Poirot once again. His take on the Belgian detective is his own, and he's quite believable.

    The moment they introduce Sophie Okonedo as a guitar playing jazz singer, I felt dejavu, and realized that I'd seen her on Broadway. Definitely a striking presence, with a bit of mystery and likeable spunk of a hard lived life, her character commands every minute. Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders take on the Bette Davis and Maggie Smith roles, with a different twist regarding their relationship, and it's a refreshing, different take on the two scene stealing characters from the 1978 film.

    Only an actress like Annette Benning could play a character named Euphemia, with the only other time I've seen that name played by Grayson Hall as an eccentric southern matriarch on "One Life to Live". Bening, as a famous aging artist, is another commanding presence. The victim is Gal Gadot, newly married to Armie Hammer, and upset by the presence of his ex, Emma Mackey, becoming quite neurotic before she's found dead.

    The film is different enough from the original, as well as the book, and that will displease purists. I didn't find the film perfect, but certain characters and performance had me engaged, and the opulent trip down the Nile is certainly pleasing to the eye, especially when they visit one of pharaoh Ramases' tombs. A glimpse into Poirot's past in World War I added some aspects to his life that were interesting if not important. I couldn't watch both versions back to back without finding further flaw in this, so I'll make my judgement on this version and move on, rewatching the original if I feel the need to travel to this mysterious world ever again.