Death on the Nile was supposed to come out in 2019. Kenneth Branagh’s poor movie has been snakebit more than any other in recent memory: a corporate merger delayed it initially, then the pandemic hit, and finally 4 of the movie’s stars have gone through some sort of controversy, ranging from tone deaf to genuinely terrible. Yikes! So the fact that Branagh holds this film together by Hercule Poirot’s mustache is nothing short of amazing. And, in general, Death on the Nile is just a delight of a thriller, putting together a giant cast into a fun whodunit that keeps you guessing moment to moment.
After solving the Orient Express murder, and a bit of our detective’s backstory, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) has taken a vacation, going to jazz clubs and eating desserts. His vacation takes him to Egypt, where he runs into an old friend, Bouc (Tom Bateman) who is going to a wedding with his mother Euphemia (Annette Benning). Bouc invites Poirot to this glamorous event: rich heiress Linnet (Gal Gadot) is marrying Simon Doyle (Armie Hammer), who had just met each other 6 weeks ago. After the wedding, Linnet/Simon invite the whole wedding party onto a Nile Boat Cruise, including Poirot, Bouc & his mom, the jazz performers/servers (Letitia Wright, Rose Leslie and Sophie Okonedo), relatives (Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Ali Fazal), and surprisingly, some jilted ex lovers (Russell Brand, Emma Mackey). That combustible mixture of people explodes in a murder, making Poirot abandon his vacation for some detective work to figure out whodunit.
A lot of the success of Death on the Nile relies on how you feel about plot heavy mysteries. Branagh does a good job efficiently identifying why each wedding attendee has some issue with Linnet that could lead to murder. There are also a host of attempted murders, which cloud the picture of what is happening. I had a blast doing the Clue game while watching the movie at each new piece of information revealed from a Poirot interview or a throwaway point/line of dialogue, searching for double meanings. The direction is really fun too, giving us some boots on the ground movement to be a part of the chaotic movie moments, and also a host of spectacular costumes and colorful visuals. Being plot heavy also allows Branagh to distract the audience from all the problematic people in the film, as we bounce from person to person establishing motive only really diving deeply into Poirot himself since he’s our main character. Plus the third act monologue from the detective in a mystery movie is always a delight; Branagh, acting, directing, doing it all, holds Death on the Nile together.
Despite the uncomfortable presence of Armie Hammer (whose dialogue can be pretty cringey and ironically funny in its meta context), there’s enough great non problematic actors having a ball besides Branagh. Annette Benning is just hurling bitchy fastballs at anyone who’ll listen. Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French take their sketch comedy show into Branagh’s movie, giving the film a silly fun subplot. Gal Gadot and Emma Mackey make the movie super duper sexy, showing off their athleticism in some sultry dance numbers. But my big winner is Sophie Okonedo, oozing regality, charm, demure, and badassery as Salome the jazz singer, also looking dapper in her regalia of spectacular outfits. I would lover her to return as Poirot’s partner in crime…solving.
I hope 20th Century Studios looks kindly on Death on the Nile. I’d love Branagh to get a chance to finish the Poirot trilogy. So then he can time travel and meet Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc in Knives Out 3 on Netflix. Now that’s a pairing!