Kenneth Branagh’s impressive repertoire as a filmmaker grows with yet another compelling Agatha Christie adaptation in the form of A Haunting in Venice. Although the film is not a natural remake of Christie’s Hallowe’en Party, the plot is loosely based on the novel. This marks Branagh’s third film based on her literary works. And credit must be given to him for progressively getting better with each itinerant. A Haunting in Venice is more sedate and broody than Branagh’s previous two adaptations.
It is fashioned as a slow-burn murder mystery but also a compelling character sketch. There is an attempt to develop characters from scratch and give them an arc that subsumes in the narrative. The harrowing setting of Venice, mostly the Pallazo, is inviting and acts as a catalyst for masterful storytelling. The most impressive aspect of A Haunting in Venice is the heavy use of symbolism and its depiction through clever cinematography. In this piece, we break down A Haunting in Venice’s ending as well as bring out the major plot points.
A Haunting in Venice Plot Summary
Detective Poirot leads a quiet, retired life at his apartment in Venice. The year is 1947. Poirot has hired the former policeman Vitale Portfoglio as his bodyguard, who is under strict instructions not to let anyone in…except the bakery guy, two times a day. However, Poirot soon gets an unwelcome visit from writer and old friend Ariadne Oliver. Since the time of the year is the onset of the Halloween season, she invites his attention to a seance taking place at Rowena Drake’s Pallazo.
Poirot is tempted to go due to his unwavering agnostic beliefs and also to call out the phony medium. Joyce Reynolds has recently been released from prison and has the unwanted mantle of being the last woman to have been indicted under the Witchcraft law. Rowena’s Pallazo was once an orphanage. The laughter and joy of children turned into screams and cries for help as after the Plague hit the city, they were abandoned and locked inside the orphanage by doctors and nurses, who fled the scene.
It is believed that the “children’s vendetta” seized the life of Rowena’s daughter, Alicia, who died a few years ago. Her death was classified as a suicide by the police…but Joyce believes that she was murdered. Poirot remains on alert as he looks to break down Joyce’s phony act. The spectacle she puts forth does confound Poirot, who is conflicted about what to believe and not. However, after the seance, Joyce is murdered, pushed by an unknown assailant from the balcony, impaling her on the statute of a Biblical figure.
It is now up to the retired Hercule Poirot to come back from his slumber – albeit briefly – and solve not just one but two murders…which is soon to be three as the Pallazo’s horrors grow with each passing minute.
The Main Characters
This is a brief segment where we list down all the main characters involved in A Haunting in Venice for the benefit of our readers. Along with the identities, we have also listed the relation of characters to Alicia Drake and Joyce Reynolds. It must be noted that Poirot and Oliver are neutral in this situation, given that they mostly represent the perspective of the audience.
- Detective Hercule Poirot.
- Ariadne Oliver.
- Vitale Portfolgio, Poirot’s trusted bodyguard with a dark past as a policeman.
- Rowena Drake, the hostess and struggling owner of the Pallazo and mother of Alicia Drake.
- Joyce Reynolds an infamous medium who claims to be able to talk to the spirit of the dead.
- Desdemona and Nicholas Holland are illegal Hungarian immigrants working as assistants for Reynolds.
- Dr Leslie Ferrier, a doctor and former soldier, was tormented by the trauma and horrors of war. He also treated Alicia Drake through her perceived “mental illness.”
- Leopold Ferrier is Leslie’s son whose maturity precedes his tender age.
- Maxime, Alicia’s former fiance, whose heartbreak triggered Alicia’s downward spiral.
- Miss Olga Seminoff, a former nun and devout Christian, is also the Pallazo’s housekeeper. She is close to both Alicia and Rowena.
The Motivations for Alicia Drake’s Murder
There are some important and perplexing results of Poirot’s investigations of all the suspects (yes, until the murder is solved, everyone is under the scanner). His general observations also play a key role in his final half-hour flourish, where he explains the whys and hows of all the murders. After Joyce reveals that Alicia was murdered and did not die by suicide, she was herself killed. Poirot believes this is a cover-up because that person is afraid that their well-kept secret would be exposed.
Also, Read: Top 5 Ingenious Murder Weapons in Christie’s Novels
For Joyce’s murder, Poirot suspects the brother-sister duo of Nicholas and Desdemona. He greatly suspects – which the latter confirms – that they were stealing from Joyce’s earnings. The purpose of their surreptitious fleecing is to secure a passage to St. Louis, Missouri, as they endeavor to get away from the aftereffects of the massacre of war and suffering. They have different perspectives about Joyce. While Nicholas thinks she is a “magician,” Desdemona calls her a fake.
Ariadne comes under the scanner as Poirot establishes her connivance with Vitale. It is not the first time he has visited this house. He has been here before, given his swift discovery of the hidden phone in the living room. Vitale was the only duty police officer who attended to the distress call following Alicia’s death. That incident inspired his retirement. Ariadne, who is a best-selling author, is miffed at her failure with the last three novels. She needs a new break, and Joyce’s murder would give her the makings of writing another bestselling novel.
Miss Olga Seminoff is a former nun and a devout Christian. She believes that witches and sorceresses deserve Divine Justice and, hence, is a suspect. She clearly did not approve of Joyce’s profession and methods. Olga even sat out the seance, terming it as a disrespect to Alicia’s spirit and soul.
A Haunting in Venice (2023) Ending Explained
Poirot’s whodunnit whiplash
With all the facts and circumstances established, Poirot came into his own with his whodunnit whiplash, bringing out not only Joyce’s killer but also the person responsible for killing Alicia and Dr. Leslie. And that person is Rowena Drake herself. Poirot begins by explaining how he has been feeling off since the night began. This is because Rowena has poisoned him using flowers that grow on her terrace above the balcony. The aftereffects of ingesting this plant include hallucination, something that manifested in Poirot’s case with the child singing in faraway distances. He also saw the ghost of Alicia as a young girl.
As Maxime pointed out, Rowena and Alicia had a toxic relationship in the sense that they couldn’t stay without each other. This was the fundamental problem Maxime envisioned later in their married life. This is the reason he broke off the engagement with her. Rowena chose to gradually poison Alicia to control her, even though, through her eyes, she was only keeping her safe. This instance is reminiscent of Alma and Reynolds’ toxic symbiotic relationship from Phantom Thread. That ill-fated night, as Rowena went away to get rest and Olga watched over Alicia, the housekeeper didn’t realize what dosage of the poisoned honey to administer to Alicia.
When Alicia started having tremors, Olga fed her a generous amount. Subsequently, she overdosed, and Rowena only noticed it when she took over. Remember how Maxime remarked while being interviewed by Poirot that the honey tasted different? Alicia’s heart had stopped in her sleep, and Rowena was forced into making it look like a suicide. Afterward, she received blackmailing letters and had to give away most of her fortune. That is why the house was in such a dilapidated condition.
She thought that either Leslie or Joyce could be the blackmailer. Hence, when she got the chance, Rowena killed them. Not Leslie, though, who killed himself. But Rowena threatened to kill Leopold if he didn’t do so. She does not accept these charges and eventually slips off the balcony, ironically like Alicia. There is a hint of supernatural responsibility as well, as we saw in a glimpse right before she fell. It turns out that the blackmailer was Leopold, who figured out the scenario using Leslie, his father’s, notes. Poirot suggests that he use the money to send the brother-sister duo to America and give the rest to Olga, her new guardian.
What did Poirot mean by “live your life”?
Poirot came back to his apartment and decided to come out of retirement by taking a young man’s case. In a way, the ending of A Haunting in Venice reflects Poirot’s coming of age after noting the possibility of the afterlife. His spiritual awakening gives him a purpose in life to continue doing what he does best. Remember, this was the reason why he had retired from taking new cases. But perhaps the belief being reinstated in his conscience helps Poirot to move past demons of his own that have tormented him for so many years.
Also, Read The Little Grey Cells On Screen: Hercule Poirot and Cinema
A Haunting in Venice Movie Information
External Link: Rotten Tomatoes
Rating: PG-13 (Some Strong Violence|Disturbing Images|Thematic Elements)
Genre: Holiday, Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language: English
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Producer: Kenneth Branagh, Judy Hofflund, Simon Kinberg, Ridley Scott
Writer: Michael Green
Runtime: 1h 43m
