1947, Venice, and Hercule Poirot has retired from the world of murder. A bodyguard stands at his front door, fending off the people who may or may not be in desperate need of his help, while Poirot sits on what seems to be the only rooftop balcony in the whole city eating pastries. Until Ariadne Oliver gets past his security and entices him to help her debunk the psychic Joyce Reynolds.

In a palazzo owned by opera singer Rowena Drake, there will be a séance. Not for the countless children who were left to die there when the plague came, but for Rowena’s daughter Alicia, who committed suicide some time ago. But when the séance ends in unexplained death, and the ghosts come to call, is Poirot facing a flesh and blood killer? Or something far more complex?

So, the Kenneth Branagh Poirot films aren’t the most popular amongst the classic crime circle. Personally, I didn’t mind Murder On The Orient Express but found Death On The Nile less involving, possibly as I’m not a fan of Gal Gadot. Each of them had some good stuff in it though, and I don’t mind the extra background that Branagh has given to the little Belgian. These are cinematic films, after all, not episodes of a TV show, so the character needs something more, in my opinion. At least he’s not an ex-priest…

My main concern with the previous two films was the choice of stories. There’s a reason that they’ve both been filmed before, they’re the best known Poirot books and people like familiar things. But now audiences are familiar with the Branagh-Poirot, I was delighted that he’d gone out on a limb with his choice for film three – I was expecting Evil Under The Sun, but instead we get a loose adaptation of Hallowe’en Party. And I can’t remember a blooming thing about Hallowe’en Party, apart from the girl being drowned while apple-bobbing. And that doesn’t happen in this film… So I you’re looking for ways that the film deviates from the book, sorry, can’t really help you there.

What this is, however, is a very enjoyable film. If you’re worried that it might be a bit scary, well, watch the trailer. That’s basically all the scary stuff there. In fact, I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t lean into it a bit more. On the other hand, this is a Hercule Poirot mystery, so “ghosts did it” is never going to cut it, and thankfully the writers know that. If only the writers who decided to start putting real ghosts into Scooby Doo had the same sense…

It’s all really satisfying, although I can see the faithful squirming at the non-faithful adaptation of the book and of Ariadne Oliver, played by Tina Fey as if she’s wandered in from an American film from the fifties. I thought it, and the bit that is definitely going to annoy the purists, worked really well. If I wanted Hallowe’en Party or another Christie book, I’d read the, well, book. This mystery had some genuine surprises in it, and I was certainly caught out with one aspect of the plot.

The cast of characters is great. Everyone has something to do, even if in the case of two characters, it’s to be obvious not-guilty suspects to allow the characters to relax once they’ve been apprehended. Everyone has a complete (if simple at times) story arc and the actors all seem to suit their roles. Branagh has toned down the celebrity casting with arguably Michelle Yeoh as the medium being the only real star of the cast. Of the rest, I know Tina Fey’s work and I’ve seen Jamie Dornan in stuff that I can’t quite recall, but the rest of the cast were new to me, so the “Richard Briers Factor”, as it’s called in our house, didn’t apply here. In particular, I want to praise Jude Hill for his portrayal of Leopold, simultaneously creepy and sympathetic, an impressive balance.

It’s also beautifully shot, both within the palazzo and without, effectively making the location seem very claustrophobic. Despite going into this knowing that – well, hoping that this wasn’t going to go too paranormal – there was still an effective creepiness throughout the whole thing.

OK – going to stop the mindless praise and mention a couple of negatives. Branagh does a good job of trying to hide the fact that the middle section is just Poirot and Ariadne interviewing the suspects one by one, but that’s what it is (although it gives some good character moments for some of the suspects). As I mentioned, there’s something in the denouement that I’d have been surprised if it didn’t happen – it’s a bit of a cliché – but it was kind of necessary. And Poirot does intuit some details of the solution. Um… that’s about it.

So, all in all, an atmospheric, well-acted mystery film that may be only by inspired by Hallowe’en Party, but still has Christie running through every aspect of it. It may offend the purists, but I urge you to give it a go. Who knows, maybe we’ll get a decent version of The Big Four next!