Movies Reviews

‘Death on the Nile’ disappoints

From the official Facebook page for "Death on the Nile"

LONDON – The newest film adaptation of renowned British author Agatha Christie’s novel Death on the Nile is comically disappointing. 

The premise of the movie is the murder of a young heiress – just days after her honeymoon –  who is aboard a cruise ship on the Nile with her companions. 

Hollywood stars Gal Gadot and Armie Hammer play Linnet Ridgeway and Simon Doyle, the engaged protagonists. Director Kenneth Branagh plays detective Hercule Poirot. 

Joanna Koter/YJI

The poster of the film looked promising, but by the end I couldn’t help but laugh at this utterly disappointing yet ludicrously funny film. 

Branagh’s past work includes Murder on the Orient Express – another novel by Christie – which I also felt to be over-hyped. Though I approached the cinema full of anticipation for both films, my interest proved short-lived. 

For a $90 million dollar budget, the visual effects of the film are high quality and feel as though the actors are really in Egypt. The film does a great job at highlighting key facts about ancient Egypt itself to aid the plot. 

I loved the Death on the Nile soundtrack – the songs blended perfectly – and Sophie Okonedo did an excellent job as a blues singer in the film. 

In spite of this, there seems to be a Chekhov’s gun theme whereby the clues in the film prove useless. Viewers seem to be bombarded with random pieces of information throughout the film. Branagh may have intended for the action to provide tension, but for me it just brought frustration. 

What could have been a promising film felt wasted, including the great acting from Emma Mackey – a star in the Netflix show “Sex Education” – who plays a love interest in the film. 

For someone who has not read the actual book, Branagh’s cinematic depiction left a sour taste for my views towards Christie’s novels. 

The movie ended on a dissatisfying note, although it was not terrible enough that I wanted my money back.  Death on the Nile may have intended to be a whodunnit film, but for me it was nothing short of a poor rom-com. 

Anjola Fashawe is a Junior Reporter with Youth Journalism International.

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