With ‘A Haunting in Venice,’ Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Agatha Christie Cinematic Universe’ Is Officially a Thing

If you told me back in 2017 that Kenneth Branagh was cooking up an Agatha Christie Cinematic Universe—the movies which he would direct and star in as detective Hercule Poirot (Belgium’s answer to Sherlock Holmes)—I probably would have nodded aloofly on account of that being one of the tamer stories to come out of the woodwork that year.

But now we’re three movies in as of A Haunting in Venice, which just possessed theaters today, and all I have to say is: Well done, Kenneth. In a world where everything is trying and often failing to be a franchise these days, you saw a humble opportunity and grabbed it by the horns. And against all odds, Poirot’s latest cinematic serial quietly continues to get better with every passing feature.

Branagh’s Agatha Christie Cinematic Universe

No, I’m not just saying “Agatha Christie Cinematic Universe” for the fun of it (although I admit that the fun of it is all I really need to justify it). A Haunting in Venice is in fact a sequel to Branagh’s 2022 film Death on the Nile, which itself is a sequel to 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express, where the Thor director first began this new line of adventures for his take on Hercule Poirot.

Here’s hoping A Haunting in Venice can turn those positive reviews into a respectable-enough box office return. Branagh presumably wouldn’t have made so many of these movies if he wasn’t having the time of his life slapping on that mustache and cracking the case, and considering all he’s given the world as an actor, director, and screenwriter, he deserves this.

A Haunting in Venice is now playing in theaters.

(featured image: 20th Century Studios)