A Haunting in Venice
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: September 15, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 52 Critic Reviews
Positive:
32
Mixed:
19
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
NMEAlex FloodOct 28, 2023
Saving the day this time isn’t Poirot, but the city itself which Branagh captures in all its decadently crumbling glory. Read full review
60
We Got This CoveredFrancisca TinocoSep 21, 2023
Hercule Poirot comes out to play again in this horror-leaning murder mystery which, despite looking great, is held back by and underwhelming plot. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeSep 17, 2023
It’s enjoyable, if familiar. Read full review
60
The New York TimesJason ZinomanSep 13, 2023
In straddling genres, “Haunting” can get stuck in the middle. But there’s fun to be had there. What’s consistent is the elegant visuals — striking cinematography by Haris Zambarloukos — which mark this movie’s real genre as lavish old-fashioned Hollywood entertainment. Read full review
60
EmpireHelen O'HaraSep 12, 2023
It may be too tame for horror fans, but the gothic twist works remarkably well — even if everything else is business as usual for the Belgian detective. Read full review
60
Time OutOlly RichardsSep 11, 2023
The horror-lite element gives it a boost, with Branagh’s direction conjuring up a few jumps, but this gently entertaining mystery could have used far more scares. If he’d gone the full leering Hammer Horror, rather than tastefully occult, this could have been a scream. Read full review
60
The IndependentClarisse LoughreySep 9, 2023
Michelle Yeoh comfortably steals the show in this starry adaptation of lesser-known mystery ‘The Hallowe’en Party’. Read full review
58
ColliderEmma KielySep 9, 2023
The twist is detailed but not too convoluted, and in my view, it's not easy to see coming. If anything, A Haunting in Venice is a reminder that even when we are inundated with mystery stories, no one does it like Agatha Christie, and it's hard to believe that someone ever will again. Read full review
55
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzSep 14, 2023
By the time the deep dark truth about the mysterious case is revealed – in a series of twists that are more “agh” than “aha” – even the hardest core of Christie fans won’t be itching for a fourth Poirot go-round from Branagh. Which will not only benefit audiences but also the filmmaker himself. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithSep 14, 2023
I was at least interested in the spooky goings-on, even as I grew increasingly tired of Mr. Branagh’s labored attempts to twist an ordinary detective story into a horror flick. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn HornadaySep 11, 2023
A Haunting in Venice isn’t exactly a barrel of laughs. But that’s no doubt as intended by Branagh, who seems intent on rescuing Poirot from the reassuring, too-cute world of “cozy” mysteries and grounding him in the real-life loss and emotional dislocation of the postwar eras from which he sprang. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeMark FeeneySep 11, 2023
Why Branagh and the screenwriter, Michael Green (he also did the two earlier Poirot adaptations), would want to bring actual, real-life horror into a mystery movie masquerading as a horror movie is a mystery beyond the powers of even Poirot to solve. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterCaryn JamesSep 9, 2023
The new film is much pokier in its pacing, with duller characters. Despite some highlights, including Branagh in top form as an even more somber than usual Poirot, the film is watchable but it is also something lethal to a mystery: uninvolving. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineGregory NussenSep 9, 2023
In the end, any attempts that A Haunting in Venice makes at connecting post-war trauma to Halloween and the ability to commune with the dead are non-committal, and the script doesn’t do enough to communicate why any of that matters. Read full review
50
SlashfilmJosh SpiegelSep 9, 2023
A Haunting in Venice does try to spice things up, but all the skewed angles in the world can't hide the fact that this mystery is half as eerie as it wants to be, and roughly as entertaining. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubMurtada ElfadlSep 9, 2023
With mystical elements and a foray into gothic storytelling, A Haunting In Venice could have been much more intriguing. Instead, Branagh and screenwriter Michael Green do not vary much from what they delivered in the other two movies. Read full review
40
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeSep 15, 2023
Branagh’s decent performance and Christie’s indestructible reputation may just be enough to see the film through to a modest profit and, later, decent figures on Disney+. But A Haunting in Venice feels like a misguided experimental sprig from an already compromised operation. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeySep 9, 2023
Kenneth Branagh returns as Poirot, but, rather than jazz things up, the film's many Danny-Boyle-esque stylings are a constant distraction. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawSep 9, 2023
No amount of spooky jump-scares can save Kenneth Branagh’s latest Christie adaptation, which wastes its atmospheric setting and stellar cast. Read full review
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