Current:Home > FinanceWho's the murderer in 'A Haunting in Venice?' The biggest changes between the book and movie-InfoLens
Who's the murderer in 'A Haunting in Venice?' The biggest changes between the book and movie
View Date:2024-12-23 11:50:49
Spoiler alert! The following post contains details about the ending of “A Haunting in Venice.”
Hercule Poirot is back on the case.
Agatha Christie’s most famous creation is probing yet another mystery in “A Haunting in Venice” (now in theaters), the third in a series of Christie adaptations directed by Kenneth Branagh, after “Death on the Nile” (2022) and “Murder on the Orient Express” (2017).
The supernatural whodunit is loosely based on Christie’s 1969 detective novel “Hallowe’en Party,” and features a star-studded cast including Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan, Michelle Yeoh and Kelly Reilly. Here’s how the book and film compare:
'A Haunting in Venice' review:A sleepy Agatha Christie movie that won't keep you up at night
What’s changed between ‘A Haunting in Venice’ movie and book?
Unlike Branagh’s other Christie adaptations, which closely follow their source material, “A Haunting in Venice” is an almost entirely different story than “Hallowe’en Party.” In the book, the mustachioed Poirot is summoned to a sprawling English estate, the site of several murders. At a Halloween party one evening, a 13-year-old girl claims to have witnessed one of the killings, and hours later, she is found dead in an apple-bobbing tub.
The spooky bash is one of the only similarities between the book and movie. In “A Haunting in Venice,” Poirot (Branagh) is called to a Halloween party at the Italian manor of Rowena Drake (Reilly). He’s invited there to help disprove the work of Joyce Reynolds (Yeoh), a medium conducting a séance for Drake’s daughter, Alicia, who plunged to her death from a balcony.
With this film, Branagh and screenwriter Michael Green wanted to dip their toes into the horror genre.
“We had done two very faithful adaptations of two pretty famous, pretty big books,” executive producer James Pritchard told entertainment site The Direct. “(We) felt that we should maybe surprise our audience with this and try something a little bit different."
Are Michelle Yeoh and Tina Fey's characters in the 'Hallowe'en Party' novel?
Coming off her Oscar win for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Yeoh is naturally front and center in all the marketing for “A Haunting in Venice.” So it may come as a shock that Yeoh only has a few minutes of screen time and – spoiler alert – is the first one murdered in the movie, after she’s pushed from a ledge and impaled on a statue.
Although there is no medium or séance in “Hallowe’en Party,” Yeoh’s new character has literary roots: Joyce Reynolds is the name of the teenage girl killed at the start of the novel.
Along with Poirot, Fey’s character also appears in the book. The “30 Rock” actress plays Ariadne Oliver, a crime-fiction writer and one of Poirot’s friends. Ariadne is featured in more than half a dozen Christie novels and short stories, including “Mrs. McGinty’s Dead” (1952) and “Dead Man’s Folly” (1956).
'I'm having too much fun':Michelle Yeoh talks 'American Born Chinese,' life after Oscar win
'Haunting in Venice' ending, explained
Rowena is one of two murderers in “Party,” but in “Venice” she is the big bad. At the end of the film, we learn that Rowena had slowly poisoned Alicia to keep her feeble and childlike and prevent her daughter from leaving home and getting married. But when a housekeeper mistakenly gave Alicia an overdose, Rowena tried to frame it as a suicide by throwing her daughter's body off a balcony. Later, Rowena killed Joyce and party guest Dr. Leslie Ferrier (Dornan) for seemingly knowing too much about Alicia's death.
In a climactic standoff with Poirot, Rowena meets a watery grave when she is pulled into the Venice canals by Alicia’s spirit. Although he has long favored science over superstition, it’s enough to make Poirot start believing in ghost stories.
veryGood! (624)
Related
- Round 2 in the Trump-vs-Mexico matchup looks ominous for Mexico
- D.C. sues home renovation company Curbio, says it traps seniors in unfair contracts
- What stores are open on Thanksgiving 2023? See Target, Walmart, Home Depot holiday status
- How to watch 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' on streaming this year
- Jerry Jones lashes out at question about sun's glare at AT&T Stadium after Cowboys' loss
- Do you get dry skin in the winter? Try these tips from dermatologists.
- OpenAI’s unusual nonprofit structure led to dramatic ouster of sought-after CEO
- Nevada election-fraud crusader loses lawsuit battle against Washoe County in state court
- What’s the secret to growing strong, healthy nails?
- Israeli troops battle militants across north Gaza, which has been without power or water for weeks
Ranking
- Song Jae-lim, Moon Embracing the Sun Actor, Dead at 39
- Ukrainian hacktivists fight back against Russia as cyber conflict deepens
- Teachers in Portland, Oregon, march and temporarily block bridge in third week of strike
- Kentucky cut off her Medicaid over a clerical error — just days before her surgery
- Why Kathy Bates Decided Against Reconstruction Surgery After Double Mastectomy for Breast Cancer
- No one was injured when a US Navy plane landed in a Hawaii bay, but some fear environmental damage
- As much as 1.1 million gallons of oil leaked from pipeline near Louisiana, Coast Guard says
- Accuser sues Bill Cosby for alleged abuse dating to 1980s under expiring New York survivors law
Recommendation
-
Judith Jamison, acclaimed Alvin Ailey American dancer and director, dead at 81
-
8 years ago a grandma accidentally texted young man she didn't know about Thanksgiving. They've gone from strangers to family to business partners
-
Poland set to get more than 5 billion euros in EU money after commission approves recovery plan
-
Horoscopes Today, November 21, 2023
-
Burger King's 'Million Dollar Whopper' finalists: How to try and vote on your favorite
-
Millions could benefit from a new way out of student loan default
-
Rosalynn Carter made a wrongfully convicted felon a White House nanny and helped win her pardon
-
Caitlin Clark predicts Travis Kelce's touchdown during ManningCast appearance