Death On The Nile: A Review

The formula of "whodunnit" is one of the oldest in fiction and continues to work because it is based on a universal human characteristic: curiosity.

The film adaptation of Death on the Nile, based on the work of Agatha Christie and directed by Kenneth Branagh, is set in Egypt in the 1930s. It begins when Jacqueline (Sex Education star Emma Mackey) introduces her fiancé, Simon (Armie Hammer), to her best friend, the wealthy heiress Linett (Gal Gadot). As soon as Linett sets her eyes on Simon, a spark is lit: the socialite and Simon fall in love, marry, and a tormented Jacqueline begins to follow them.

Fearing for her own safety, Linett hires Detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) to accompany the couple and their acquaintances on a honeymoon cruise down the Nile River. As with all Agatha Christie mysteries, a death under mysterious circumstances makes all passengers suspicious and gives Poirot the task of finding out who the killer is.

Kenneth Branagh returns to the role of Poirot five years after Murder on the Orient Express, with the same offbeat tone as the previous adaptation. Still, because we now know his backstory, there's a sense of greater depth and closeness to the character. The first few minutes of Death on the Nile are exciting and present an unexpected "origin story" perspective: we are taken to the youth of the classic detective to better understand his traumas, with a surprising flashback that even explains his giant mustacheーa sad plot, yet interesting and exciting to follow.

Through the flashback, the film makes an excellent choice to connect Poirot to the great theme of Death on the Nile: the idiocies committed in the name of love. The context about the character is not so tied to the resolution of the mystery itself, but making the investigator more sensitive to the love tragedy helps us to put aside the fact that he seems to have fallen in love for no apparent reason through the case of Linett, Simon, and Jacqueline.

The film takes a long time to get going: no death and no Nile.

For a story based on the mystery of "whodunnit?" Death on the Nile takes quite a while to introduce death and the famous Egyptian river. The first part of the film is long and over-contextualizes a simple premise of betrayal and ulterior motives that becomes clear in the first few minutes. Thus, it ends up only lengthening the explanation of something that was already more than understood. Before discovering who the killer is, the audience will have to wait almost an hour to find out, first, who died. And if the great attraction of stories like these is to enter the detective's vision to solve the mystery, the delay in starting will certainly bother those in a hurry.

When the death finally happens, the film begins to present the possible motivations of its suspect characters. On the surface level, the relationships between the main characters seem normal, but as the film goes on, we see how their connections to each other run much deeper than what was previously thought. No news here: classic traits such as envy, greed, resentment, and revenge appear among them, and the public is invited to place their bets - the moment everyone has been patiently waiting for.

Is Death on the Nile Worth Watching?

Death on the Nile was initially set to premiere in December 2019, and indeed, the main feeling is that the movie should have been released a few years earlier. The postponement may have harmed the work as a whole: in addition to the pandemic, of course, this meantime made Armie Hammer a very negative figure. It also allowed Rian Johnson's feature Knives Out to come out ahead of it, an inventive modern twist on the whodunnit which without a doubt, set a new standard for films of the genre. Its plot takes inspiration from and honors Agatha Christie at all times, even though it is not one of the many adaptations of her works.

As we pointed out initially, the mystery killer formula is practically foolproof, no matter how it's applied. In this sense, Death on the Nile makes good use of clichés and mystery for the simplicity it proposes. It's probably not the one you'll remember when someone asks for a good mystery movie recommendation, but there's no disappointment either. It's no wonder that Poirot has become one of the most classic characters in fiction: everyone loves a good detective and will hardly want to take their eyes off the screen before finally finding out who the killer is.