James Proclaims!

I’ve enjoyed all of Kenneth Branagh’s outings as Hercule Poirot. It would be hard to argue a case for Branagh being the definitive version of Agatha Christie’s sleuth, but he certainly brings something to the table.

The movies are probably unnecessary additions to the plethora of existing screen adaptations featuring the Belgian detective, and despite offering star-studded casts and stunning visuals, they don’t offer anything new to the genre.

Nonetheless, they are the kind of easy viewing, which makes them hard to feel especially negative about.

2022’s Death on the Nile is possibly the most satisfying in terms of the whodunnit aspect, presuming you aren’t already familiar with the story from the previous adaptations or, indeed, from reading the source material.

Score for Christmasishness

I thought Murder on the Orient Express would be the one to feature in my annual countdown, given the prevalence of snow in that movie. But Christmas is never mentioned in that one, whereas it is briefly mentioned in Death on the Nile. It never is Christmas during the timeline of the film, but when Poirot is recounting how he lost the love of his life, it transpires that that tragic event occurred at Christmas. It shouldn’t be enough to make the cut for my list but I’ve included other films for much more spurious reasons.