Kenneth Branagh returns as Hercule Poirot in Death on the Nile, a 2022 mystery film and the second entry in his Poirot series after Murder on the Orient Express. Michael Green wrote the screenplay, working from Agatha Christie’s 1937 novel. The film runs 127 minutes and carries a tagline that promises more than it delivers: “Murder was just the beginning.”
Trailer, via 20th Century Studios.
A Belgian Bridge in 1914
The film opens in Belgium, at the Yser Bridge on October 31, 1914. Poirot’s captain has a mission that means certain death for his men. Poirot offers a strategy that gets them through it safely. The mission succeeds. Then the captain steps on a mine, and Poirot is caught in the explosion.
His fiancée Katherine visits him in the hospital. She tells him she still loves him despite his facial injury, and suggests he grow a moustache to conceal it. That is the origin story Death on the Nile chooses for its detective, and it is the best stretch of the film.
A London Club and a Stolen Fiancé
By 1937, Poirot is watching blues singer Salome Otterbourne perform at a London club. He notices Jacqueline “Jackie” de Bellefort introduce her fiancé Simon Doyle to her childhood friend, the heiress Linnet Ridgeway. Linnet hires Simon as her land agent. Six weeks later, in Egypt, the two are married.
Poirot runs into his friend Bouc and Bouc’s mother Euphemia at the wedding. The honeymoon party grows: Linnet’s maid Louise Bourget; Salome and her niece and manager Rosalie; Linnet’s godmother Marie Van Schuyler and her nurse Mrs. Bowers; Linnet’s cousin and financial manager Andrew; and Linnet’s former fiancé, Dr. Linus Windlesham. Jackie has followed the couple to Egypt and keeps following them.
The S.S. Karnak and a Guest List
To escape Jackie, the group boards the cruise ship S.S. Karnak. Linnet asks Poirot for protection and admits she distrusts her own guests. Bouc reveals he is dating Rosalie against his mother’s wishes, and teases Poirot about his attraction to Salome.
The party leaves the Karnak to see the Abu Simbel Temples. A boulder falls from a column and nearly crushes Linnet and Simon. Back on the Karnak, they find Jackie has boarded.
That is the setup. The film spends most of its runtime assembling pieces, and the payoff is a long time coming.
Branagh, Bateman, and a Loaded Cast
The cast is the film’s chief asset and its chief problem. Branagh and Tom Bateman reprise their roles as Poirot and Bouc. Around them sit Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Dawn French, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, and Jennifer Saunders. Letitia Wright is also credited.
Too many of these performers get one scene and a hat. The source material gives each a function — maid, nurse, manager, cousin, ex-fiancé — and the film rarely lets them be more than that.
| Element | What the source gives it |
|---|---|
| Setting | Egypt, the S.S. Karnak, Abu Simbel Temples |
| Detective | Hercule Poirot, played by Branagh |
| Victim setup | Linnet Ridgeway, heiress, married to Simon Doyle |
| Suspect pool | Louise, Salome, Rosalie, Marie, Bowers, Andrew, Windlesham, Jackie |
| Predecessor | Murder on the Orient Express (2017) |
| Successor | A Haunting in Venice (2023) |
What the Mystery Actually Costs
Death on the Nile was released in the United Kingdom and the United States on February 11, 2022, after several delays tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. It grossed $137.3 million. Reviews were mixed. Metacritic puts the score at 52 out of 100.
The film’s real subject is not the murder. It is Poirot’s face. The 1914 flashback gives him a wound and a reason to hide it, and Branagh plays the character as a man who has decided that order is a kind of armor. That reading is coherent, and it is more interesting than the case he solves.
But the case is the movie. And the case is thin. The boulder at Abu Simbel is a fine jolt, and Jackie’s arrival on the Karnak is a fine turn. Neither lands with the weight the film needs, because the film has not made us care about anyone in the line of fire.
Why the Sequel Still Happened
A Haunting in Venice followed in 2023, with Branagh again directing and starring as Poirot. That is the tell. This series is not built on the strength of any single mystery. It is built on Branagh’s willingness to keep showing up, and on an audience that will keep buying a ticket to watch a famous detective be sad in a beautiful place.
Death on the Nile is that bargain in full. It is handsome, it is long, and it is never boring enough to be bad or sharp enough to be good. The 1914 opening earns its place. Almost nothing after it does.
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