Death on the Nile is the latest Agatha Christie adaptation starring Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Ali Fazal, Rose Leslie, Letitia Wright, Russel Brandt, Emma Mackey, Tom Bateman, and a couple more big-name actors. The movie is a continuation of the adventures of Hercule Poirot, the world’s greatest detective. Since Murder on the Orient Express, he has been on a quest to finally go on a vacation but somehow always seems to finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation that he never wished to be a part of.
With Death on the Nile, Branagh also introduced a backstory for his character that also reveals the mystery behind his larger than life moustache that masks a painful past. Despite his black and white approach to life and the mind-numbing OCD, this backstory is a great addition that makes his character seem much more human.
The story revolves around 3 major characters other than Branagh’s Poirot played by Mackey, Gadot, and Hammer. The movie begins with a sensuous showcase of chemistry between Hammer and Mackey where the couple is engaged. Enter, the heiress, Gadot, who somehow manages to find herself between the soon-to-be weds, in a rather obvious manner, and ends up falling for Hammer which eventually sets the stage for the upcoming ‘murder mystery’.
Fast-forward six weeks and to no one’s surprise, we find Hammer and Gadot are married and Mackey is the one to be left out. Obviously, the ex-wife-to be follows them around in a bid to make them uncomfortable, which makes them a little too uncomfortable. Thankfully, Poirot is in the vicinity and he somehow finds himself in the middle of their opulent wedding party through Bouc’s invitation. Thus begins the long and tiresome attempt to build a solid plot for the impending murder, while the couple tries their best to escape from the crazy ex that Mackey poses herself as. (And boy does she have those eyes as well). By this time, the couple as already convinced Poirot to join them as a watchful guardian in case Mackey does something they both dread. Thus begins their expedition/escape from Mackey journey across the Nile that tried to be a heriress’s party but couldn’t produce the glam that it should’ve.
Of course the natural target was Gadot considering her wealth, and by the time she was murdered, the movie was already beyond the halfway point. This is when things really started to gain momentum as Poirot began his investigation aboard the boat they were sailing on. Mackey had somehow managed to crash their party on the boat as well and obviously the blame was on her, but somehow it was ruled out by design. What followed was a series of events that led to an intense climax which eventually made the ending of the movie worth the wait.
Despite its obvious flaws, the movie turns out to be a rather interesting Whodunnit that leaves you satisfied in its own way. It also felt like Branagh is saying goodbye to Poirot with the way the movie ends, but till there is still no official word on it so we’ll leave it to the makers to decide that. All in all, Death on the Nile is a great attempt to present a difficult story on the big screen and deserves one watch at least. But if you’re a murder mystery fanatic and you never read Death on the Nile, it would’ve been a rather predictable ending as there were a set of obvious clues that pointed towards the killer from the very beginning.
