Is there anything you wouldn’t do for love?
In the latest murder mystery, “Death on the Nile,” a couple devises a money scheme to support their new, “happy” marriage. In the end, however, murder defeats all lovers.
This remake of Agatha Christie’s 1937 mystery novel “Death on the Nile” premiered in theaters over the weekend. The film is the second Christie movie directed by Kenneth Branagh, who plays the world-renowned detective Hercules Poirot. The first of this series, Murder on the Orient Express, premiered in theatres in 2017.
In “Death on the Nile,” Poirot joins a newlywed couple and their party on a honeymoon cruise across the Egyptian river.
The beautiful couple, Mr. and Mrs. Simon Doyle, played by Armie Hammer and Gal Gadot, were married after a whirlwind six weeks — six weeks after Mr. Doyle broke off his previous engagement to Jacqueline de Bellefort, played by Emma Mackey. This heart-broken yet determined woman haunts the happy couple on their honeymoon.
Mrs. Doyle, previously Linnet Ridgeway, begs Poirot for his protection not only from Jackie, but from all the passengers, trusting no one. Despite the happy occasion, a murderer strikes. The key suspect, Jackie, has an airtight alibi.
But Poirot sees through the desperate plot. After interviewing all the passengers, he locks them all in the living room of the cruise ship: “The murderer is in this room,” he says. Poirot presents each one’s potential motive and possibility to kill. In the end, he uncovers the truth: Doyle and Jackie performed this false, heart-wrenching break-up. Doyle faked his love for rich Linnet Ridgeway, winning her affection and eventually her money after killing her. Ideally, Doyle and Jackie would sneak away, happy and rich. However, Poirot uncovers them, and in desperation, Jackie ends her lover’s life and her own with one gun shot, fulfilling her vow of “till death do us part.”
The movie concludes with a melancholic arrival home. The remaining guests return to shore safely, but with heavy hearts, walking off the boat behind the wrapped bodies of those who boarded young and healthy, but had to be carried off cold and dead.
In addition to the Christie plot, Branagh also included history for the early life of Poirot, giving the character his own tragic love story that opens the movie. In this digression from the main story, Poirot strategically conquers enemy territory during World War I, but in that battle, an explosion causes permanent damage to his face. With tear-filled eyes, he turns to his fiance, revealing the bloody, rough scar which cuts across his smooth, young face. “Simple,” she responds, “you’ll grow a mustache.”
This tragic moment changed the rest of young Poirot’s life, eventually leading him to use his smarts in detective work. He advises young Jackie to also move past her broken heart and redirect her life after the blow of her broken engagement. These deep moments compel the audience to connect with both Poirot and Jackie. Throughout the film, the audience flips from sympathy to judgment for every character. Is he right? Is she right? Does she deserve that?
While trying to answer all the questions, body after body drops dead. Love is messy and confusing and eventually leads to blood in the Nile. At times, the viewer even feels unsafe in the seat.
If you have wits like Poirot and aren’t too bothered by twisted love and ugly plots, perhaps you too can solve the mystery.
