Movie Review: Death on the Nile

Although Kenneth Branagh’s splendid vision of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile may play, at least on some levels, as a direct sequel to his previous Hercule Poirot adventure, Murder on the Orient Express (2017), one need not have seen the former to thoroughly enjoy the latter.  

Poirot’s latest adventure has the Belgian sleuth vacationing in Egypt ostensibly to recover from the toll his last case has taken on him. Here, he is introduced to newlyweds Linnet Ridgeway (Gal Gadot) and Simon Doyle (Armie Hammer), as well as an assortment of friends, family, and hangers-on that will be accompanying the Doyles on their honeymoon aboard the same river steamer Poirot finds himself traveling down the Nile on as well. When a murder is eventually committed, it naturally falls to Poirot to piece together the clues to unmask the killer and bring the mystery to a satisfactory conclusion. 

Kenneth Branagh in “Death on the Nile.” Photo courtesy of 20th Century – © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Of course, the now isolated steamer sports an assortment of suspects who all, at one point, seem to have a motive for the killing. Along for the ill-fated ride are, among others: Annette Bening, Letitia Wright, Russell Brand, Emma Mackey, Dawn French, and Jennifer Saunders. All of these players are allotted their own moments to share the spotlight and each appear to have ample motive for the murder Poirot is attempting to solve. This makes for a rather rancorous series of accusations and exonerations. 

As he did with Murder on the Orient Express, Branagh again works with screenwriter Michael Green to bring the novel to the screen. What is most intriguing here though is that both Green and Branagh treat Poirot as the central character that he is and not simply as the mouthpiece to solve the current mystery at hand. There is a spectacular prelude to the film that sets the tone for his character that holds throughout until it is again taken up in the film’s denouement. 

Tom Bateman’s return as Bouc from Poirot’s previous case also provides a solid connection to the previous film beyond the main character that makes this feel less like a separate film and more like the continuation of the same adventure. In fact, the entire enterprise occasionally feels as though Branagh is attempting to create a cottage industry of the Poirot character. 

Despite being occasionally hamstrung by the need to fit the story into the larger context of this Poirot saga, Death on the Nile plays as a well-crafted travelogue that happens to have a reasonably engaging murder mystery at its center. 

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com

An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

@miketyrkus

Mike Tyrkus

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