Film Review: Death on the Nile (2022)

Death on the Nile

Kinberg Genre/Mark Gordon Pictures/Scott Free Productions/TSG Entertainment

20th Century Studios

Release dates 

02/11/2022

Death on the Nile on Blu-ray, DVD, 4K Ultra HD, and Digital (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment) on 04/05/2022

#whatonwhatsgood Express Review (by: Jovin Tardif)

"The original 'Death on The Nile' came out in 1978.  I decided to watch it before I watched the new one.  It featured Peter Ustinov (Hercule Poirot), Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Jane Birkin, David Niven, George Kennedy, and Jack Warden.  It was an entertaining mystery.

The new 'Death on The Nile' had an interesting start.  We learn a bit about Poirot’s backstory and why he has that mustache.  

It is followed up with Poirot sitting at a nightclub and watching three individuals with renowned jazz singer Salome Otterbourne (Sophie Okonedo) singing in the background. They are Jacqueline de Bellefort (Emma Mackey), Simon Doyle (Armie Hammer), and Linett Ridgeway (Gal Gadot).  Linett is Jacqueline’s best friend and a quite wealthy.  Jacqueline and Simon are supposed to get married soon but will Linett get in the way?

Fast forward, 6 months later, Linett is marrying Simon in Egypt.  Jacqueline isn’t pleased and she starts stalking them wherever they go. The newlywed couple are overwhelmed and asks Poirot for help.

To get away from Jacqueline, the couple boards a cruise ship. On the voyage, the passengers include Poirot’s friend, Buoc (Tom Bateman), Buoc’s widowed mother and painter, Euphemia (Annette Bening), Doctor Linus Windlesham (Russell Brand), jazz singer Salome Otterbourne (Sophie Okonedo) and her niece-manager (Letitia Wright’s Rosalie), Linnet's cousin Andrew Katchadourian (Ali Fazal), Linnet's godmother Marie Van Schuyler (Jennifer Saunders), Marie Van Schuyler nurse Mrs. Bowers (Dawn French), and Linnet's maid Louise Bourget (Rose Leslie).

Eventually, Jacqueline catches up and joins the journey...with a gun.

The next morning, Linnet is found dead (shot in the head) and her expensive necklace has been stolen.  

Everyone is a suspect.  Poirot has to figure out whodunit?  

Overall, I thought the cast was quite interesting. Kenneth does a great job playing the famous Belgian detective character Hercule Poirot. I think Emma Mackey really stole the show playing jealous ex-fiancée, Jacqueline de Bellefort.

In case you missed it, make sure to check out Kenneth Branagh's last film Murder on the Orient Express (2017). 

Did you like the new one more than the original?"

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Directed by

Kenneth Branagh

Screenplay by

Michael Green

Based on

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Produced by

Ridley Scott, Kenneth Branagh, Judy Hofflund, Kevin J. Walsh

Starring

Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot

Tom Bateman as Bouc

Annette Bening as Euphemia

Russell Brand as Linus Windlesham

Ali Fazal as Andrew Katchadourian

Dawn French as Mrs. Bowers

Gal Gadot as Linnet Ridgeway-Doyle

Armie Hammer as Simon Doyle

Rose Leslie as Louise Bourget

Emma Mackey as Jacqueline de Bellefort

Sophie Okonedo as Salome Otterbourne

Jennifer Saunders as Marie Van Schuyler

Letitia Wright as Rosalie Otterbourne

Ann Turkel as Meredith Wilson

Cinematography

Haris Zambarloukos

Edited by

Úna Ní Dhonghaíle

Music by

Patrick Doyle

Director Kenneth Branagh discusses Agatha Christie

“The passion in Agatha Christie’s original story is very powerful.  It is one of the most unsettling and captivating of Christie’s books. She presents a veneer of sophistication, sexiness, glamour, and romance, but it is, at all times, brittle, fragile, dangerous, and disruptive.  We were the lucky recipients of quite a lot of the sort of human texture that have made her books so successful. She’s not merely someone who can write clever puzzles; she writes real people. James and Mathew gave us vital insight on who this incredible author was on a personal level.  This adaptation has a more youthful approach. Everything about the story is bigger, sexier and carries an even greater depth, literally and aesthetically.”” 

James Prichard discusses collaborating with Branagh

“What we like about ‘Murder on the Orient Express’—and now with ‘Death on the Nile’—is that the story, and most of all the atmosphere of the real Agatha Christie, is recreated on the screen. For the audience, it is tremendously important they feel that they’ve not only seen a wonderfully modern and hugely cinematic film but have also experienced an evening of Agatha Christie. Ken has built a world that reflects her unique perspective and gift for storytelling.” 

Producer Judy Hofflund discusses ‘Death on the Nile’

“The dazzling and cinematic settings made ‘Death on the Nile’ a very exciting prospect for Ken. The idea of making a big landscape version of these Agatha Christie stories and to tell a story on a large canvas was very appealing.”

Michael Green discusses the screenplay to 'Death on The Nile' 

“The book is very well written. It’s got some of Agatha Christie’s best prose in it, and it has this wonderful plot with a wonderful solution. It’s sprawling. But we just kept coming back to passion and love, diving into those feelings, and making sure all of our characters really had something to say about the power of those emotions.

In an Agatha Christie novel, it works to have interesting people hanging around who aren’t suspect. A few minor changes were made to the script to enhance a few of the characters and to fold together others to serve this cinematic adaptation. The result is that everyone on board the S.S. Karnak has a potential motive and opportunity to kill.”

Judy Hofflund discusses the script

“Michael’s first draft was a home run. It was what we showed to every actor, and it was the script we cast the movie on.”