Death on the Nile

Year:  2022

Director:  Kenneth Branagh

Screenplay:  Michael Green, based on the novel by Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Starring:  Kenneth Branagh, Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Dawn French, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders, Letitia Wright, 

Running Time:  127 minutes

Genre:  Mystery

1937:  Wealthy heiress Linnet Ridgeway (Gadot) and her new husband Simon Doyle (Hammer) are celebrating their honeymoon in Egypt, during which they invite a large number of family and friends to join them on a luxury cruise down the Nile.  When one of the passengers turns up dead, famed detective Hercule Poirot (Branagh) finds that he has no shortage of suspects.

I have never read the Agatha Christie novel, Death on the Nile, nor have I read any of her many other books, however I have seen a lot of the film and television adaptations, and this enjoyable, old-fashioned murder mystery, a sequel to the 2017 film Murder on the Orient Express, fits in with them comfortably.  The film opens with a prologue set in 1914, which explains Hercule Poirot's impressive moustache, by suggesting that he grew the moustache to cover facial scars he suffered during his time in the First World War.  As with most Agatha Christie adaptations, there is a large number of familiar faces to provide victims and/or suspects.  The films starts leisurely, building up it's cast of characters and providing motivation as to why any of them could be the murderer.  The cast is eclectic and everyone seems to relish their roles, and it is fun to see popular British comedy duo Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French as a wealthy American Communist and her devoted nurse.  It is quite odd however to see famously outrageous and flamboyant comedian Russell Brand as a quiet, strait-laced doctor.  The film was made in 2019 and was due to be released in 2020, but it was delayed several times, and in that time some of the cast have fallen out of favour, notably Armie Hammer.  Kenneth Branagh is good as the Belgian detective, and directs with impressive visual style.  While the film does drag at times, it is an enjoyably star-studded, old fashioned and largely bloodless mystery.  It may not be unmissable, and is unlikely to feature on many "Best of the Year" lists come December, but it is a fun, glitzy entertainment.

 Gal Gadot, Emma Mackey and Armie Hammer in Death on the Nile