Death on the Nile, the star-packed sequel to Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express, hits theaters today, but before you rush out to see it on the big screen, here are some quick thoughts about the film:
- It’s beautifully shot! Above everything, Branagh’s unique vision and deliberate camera choices were stunning with almost every angle providing an unexpected perspective. It would be a travesty if Haris Zambarloukos, the Director of Photography, doesn’t win awards for this one.
- It’s star-packed, almost to a distracting amount. Not only are some of the a-listers in this movie currently embroiled in real world controversy, but there are also faces that you’ll spend most of the movie trying to place instead of paying attention to the story.
- For many the mystery felt obvious.
- The movie is too long. Honestly, many movies these days are too long, but a film with Death in the title that doesn’t include any for the first hour is quite tedious.
All in all, Death on the Nile is a gorgeous, and sometimes silly, mystery movie. Do with that what you will.
Based on the 1937 novel by Agatha Christie, Death on the Nile is a daring mystery-thriller about the emotional chaos and deadly consequences triggered by obsessive love. Kenneth Branagh, back as the iconic detective Hercule Poirot, is joined by Tom Bateman, four-time Oscar® nominee Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Dawn French, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders and Letitia Wright. Death on the Nile reunites the filmmaking team behind 2017’s global hit Murder on the Orient Express.
Watch the trailer for Death on the Nile here, and catch it in theaters today.
— Yael Tygiel