The world of Agatha Christie has been brought back to us time and time again by the duo that is Kenneth Branagh and Michael Green, with Branagh both directing and starring in Death on the Nile and Murder on the Orient Express, and Green writing. Their latest is an adaptation of a lesser known work from Christie, and it is the best mystery yet!
As is always the case with Branagh’s take on Christie’s fictional detective Hercule Poirot, A Haunting in Venice features a cast of characters from Christie’s world as well as new actors to bring them to life. The film feels like turning over a new leaf for Poirot in the best way, and it is all because of the cast of characters he has around him.
A supernatural thriller that brings us to a seance conducted by Mrs. Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh), the film retells Christie’s Hallowe’en Party in a new and exciting way, and of the characters who is the most important to Poirot’s role in the story is an opera singer named Rowena Drake. In an exclusive for The Mary Sue, we get to premiere a new look into Rowena as character, featuring interviews recorded pre-strike with both Kelly Reilly and director and star Kenneth Branagh.
“I play Rowena Drake, a retired opera singer. Rowena is holding a séance in order to talk to the spirit of her daughter, who died a year before,” Reilly says in the clip, before Branagh talks a bit about Drake as a character and her complexity.
It’s an exciting look into the character and the story to get fans of Christie’s work, as well as Branagh’s take on the stories, ready for the film’s release!
Managing to bring new life to a Christie story
It’s fascinating to see this story come to life in such a vivid way because Branagh’s first two adaptations were pretty much carbon copies of the original Christie stories, but the reason A Haunting In Venice shines is that we as the audience don’t know much about Hallowe’en Party, and even so, things have changed to make this the best mystery out of the three. That’s partly because this cast is just so incredible with this genre. Not only is Reilly a brilliant addition to the cast alongside Yeoh, but we also have Jamie Dornan and Jude Hill, who were both in Branagh’s film Belfast.
This is just a taste of what awaits us in A Haunting in Venice, and audiences can take part in the mystery with Rowena Drake and Hercule Poirot on September 15.
(featured image: Rob Youngson/20th Century Pictures)
