Death on the Nile - Film Review

Everyone enjoys a good murder mystery (unless you happen to be the victim), and so I was pretty interested to see this when I initially saw the trailers. Having no knowledge of Agatha Christie's works (I know, I'm ashamed), I had no idea that this was a sequel to 2017's Murder on the Orient Express. I still haven't gotten a chance to view that one but seeing this makes me interested in going back to check it out.

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Where You Can Find It: I saw this in theaters where it is exclusively available to see until approximately April/May. It is expected to later be distributed for rent via most digital services like Amazon Video and iTunes.

General Information 
Death on the Nile is a murder mystery film that was released on 11 February 2022 (3 days earlier if you live in South Korea or France). It was directed and co-produced by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars in this film. Michael Green wrote the screenplay for this, although it is based off the Agatha Christie novel of the same name. Haris Zambarloukos provided the cinematography while Patrick Doyle composed. This is one of the first films to be distributed under 20th Century Studios (formerly known as 20th Century Fox). One final note of interest is that there is a previous version of this film that released in 1978, which actually won an Academy Award (best costume design). As of 19 February 2022, the film has grossed approximately $40 million at the box office against a $90 million budget. Its critical reception has been relatively lukewarm as it has a 52 Metascore on Metacritic alongside a 63% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

There's quite a bit to be said about this film's development as it has been far from smooth. First and foremost, like many other films to release in the early 2020s, it was plagued by delays brought about by the COVID-19 epidemic. The film was initially going to release in 2020; however, the epidemic caused multiple delays, which eventually carried its release all the way to 2022. Beyond delays, there were also numerous controversies surrounding the film's cast. Gal Gadot's previous affiliations with the Israeli Defense Forces caused the film to be banned in Kuwait and Lebanon; Russell Brand and Letitia Wright were criticized for past statements on the COVID-19 vaccinations campaigns in 2021; and Armie Hammer was accused of rape, sexual impropriety, and cannibalism. 

The Story

Famous detective, Hercule Poirot (played by Kenneth Branagh), is vacationing in 1937 Egypt when an old friend invites him along to a wedding party taking place on a riverboat running along the Nile River. Despite the festivities, the wealthy newlyweds are actually on the run from someone. Simon Doyle (Armie Hammer) betrayed his ex-fiance, Jacqueline de Bellefort (Emma Mackey), for the wealthy Linnet Ridgeway (Gal Gadot) and now the couple believe Bellefort is stalking them. When a murder occurs aboard the riverboat, everyone becomes a suspect and Poirot must figure out who the real killer is before it's too late.

 

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At this wedding party, everyone comes with a complementary murder weapon and matching motive

Generally speaking, most murder mysteries seem to follow the same trajectory: the list of suspects are introduced; the groundwork for the murder occurs; the killer makes their move; investigators begin interviews and forensics; and the killer is caught. It's a fairly straight-forward formula that has worked in countless books and films, although there have been occasional deviations with mixed results. This film joins the latter by spending an inordinate amount of time building up to the murder, but it executes this task poorly and it's apparently done at the expense of following acts.

 

Spending most of the movie with its characters before the murder happens can be a good a thing as it allows viewers to better understand the motivations and personalities of each of the suspects; however, this only works if this extra time is fairly distributed amongst each of the players involved. Unfortunately, this doesn't quite happen, which leaves more than a few suspects poorly developed when stacked against the favored ones. Additionally, when one compares the time spent investigating the murder to the segment prior to the actual death, the third act felt rushed and sloppy. The investigation portion of the story felt as though it were done at break-neck speed, which left the conclusion somewhat unfulfilling.

 

A final element worth noting is the film's relatively bland approach to navigating social issues of its time. Despite featuring characters representing various minority groups to include African Americans, gay/lesbian, and arguably even women in general (they had only just received the right to vote in the U.S. 17 years prior to the setting), the narrative treats them as though it is modern-day. I personally find the real treatment of all of the above minority groups during this time period to be pretty reprehensible; however, these attitudes are part of what defines that age. It seems either lazy or inaccurate to ignore these cultural norms, especially as all of them might feature heavily into the behaviors/motives of their respective characters.

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Because in 1937, this is how all the cool kids did it on the dance floor

 

Special Effects/Atmosphere

One of the things that really drew me to this film was its choice of location combined with its overall appearance. The costume design is absolutely topnotch as it pops with color that reminds me a great deal of Baz Luhrmann's take on The Great Gatsby. The various locales within Egypt also look splendid considering it's primarily greenscreen. A brief segment I particularly enjoyed was watching Poirot enjoy sweets while listing to music in front of the Sphinx. It all feels fairly alive with the exception of a few transition shots between scenes that feature CGI marine life.

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I'm told the Sphinx is so much more enjoyable to behold while jamming to tunes and eating teacakes

 

The Acting

I haven't seen Branagh in too much, but I always reflect back on his enthusiastic performance as Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. It wasn't a particularly groundbreaking role, but I really dug how he embraced playing the fraudulent teacher. Without doing any research, it is abundantly visible that Branagh is having an absolute blast playing the world-famous Poirot too. Seeing him react to his surroundings is infectious although I must admit that he loses some of his luster when the script calls for more serious behavior.

 

Emma Mackey is the standout star of the ensemble cast as she manages to make the scorned lover, Jacqueline, both alluring and terrifying at the same time. There's this visible curve that forms in the corner of her mouth in certain scenes, which left me just slightly more unsettled whenever I happened to spy it. I never felt that she came off as cartoonishly insane like Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn or Emma Roberts' Cruella DeVille, but there's certainly a hint of danger behind her eyes that works great for serving as a reason to cause a wealthy couple to seek safety on a private riverboat.

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Emma Mackey expresses a special kind of crazy in this one

 

The rest of the cast ranged from middling to below average in regards to performances. Gal Gadot came off fairly wooden throughout most of the film and her onscreen husband, Armie Hammer, was slightly better but mostly forgettable still. I really liked Russell Brand's performances in Get Him to the Greek along with some of his other comedies, and I was also excited to see him in a more serious role, but he hardly got any screen time to work with. The same can be said for Ali Fazal whose character seems to exist only for others to cast suspicions upon.

The Best of the Best: The costume design for all of the characters looks great.

The Worst of the Worst: The terrible pacing.

Calhooey Score: 5/10 - Average

Would I Recommend?

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It might be better with tea

Death on the Nile is a fairly mediocre murder mystery with poor pacing and passable acting. If you like mysteries, it's probably worth a one-time view once it's available to rent or stream, but certainly not worth braving the February weather for at the theater. I'm curious how this might stack up to the 1978 version.

Spoiler Comments

• I never realized mustaches needed backstories...
• Jacqueline, Simon, and Linnet have very suggestive dance styles considering it was 1937...
  
• As soon as I saw the jeweled necklace, I knew it would be important and yet have absolutely nothing to do with the murder. 
• It kind of cracks me up that everyone is freaking out about Jacqueline owning a .22, and meanwhile Andrew is strolling around deck with a 45-caliber handgun unchallenged.
  
• Euphemia is a renowned painter and yet she never carries spare tubes of common colors like red.
• I giggled a bit when she decided bright green is the next best choice.
  
• Too bad Bouc died. That man was a snappy dresser.
  
• It's always the husband, folks.
• I started to have my suspicions that Simon was up to something when Jacqueline just happened to have pre-purchased a ticket to ride on the riverboat before Linnet commandeered it.
• Good thing no one else pre-purchased a ticket on this boat. Imagine getting accused of murder only because you were overly careful in planning your travel arrangements.
  
• So, Poirot just lets Andrew go? The dude was a thief and an attempted murderer!
• How is Poirot supposed to know if the money Andrew stole has been returned? His only hope is that Andrew keeps his word to go straight, but why would anyone trust a (again) thief and an attempted murderer?
• The communist godmother gets all the money in the end. I'm sure she'll put it to good use.
  

References

(1) Death on the Nile. (2022). Death on the Nile film image. IMDB. Retrieved from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7657566/. 

(2) Mubi. (n.d.). Poirot meeting Linnet image. Retrieved from: https://mubi.com/films/death-on-the-nile-2019.

(3) IMDB. (n.d.). Jacqueline and Simon dancing image. IMDB. Retrieved from: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt7657566/mediaviewer/rm3739067137/.

(4) Rivera, J. (2022, February 11). Poirot in front of the Sphinx image. Polygon. Retrieved from: https://www.polygon.com/reviews/22929797/death-on-the-nile-review.

(5) Coyle, J. (2022, February 7). Emma Mackey image. Welland Tribune. Retrieved from: https://www.wellandtribune.ca/ts/entertainment/movies/review/2022/02/07/review-the-long-delayed-death-on-the-nile-runs-aground.html?itm_source=parsely-api.

(6) Tumbral. (n.d.). Poirot sipping tea gif. Retrieved from: https://www.tumbral.com/tag/poirot%20gifs.