A Haunting in Venice

In the languid atmosphere of Venice, Italy, 1947, a restless Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) emerges from the depths of his nightmares, haunted by the echoes of his past. Having hung up his detective's cloak, Poirot now resides in this City of Water, yet the whispers and pleas for assistance continue to dog him, refusing to let him find peace. By his side is Vitale Portfoglio (Riccardo Scarmacio), a former police officer turned loyal bodyguard, who zealously shields Poirot from the persistent requests for help in unraveling mysteries.

One fateful evening, Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey), an old friend and renowned author, arrives at Poirot's doorstep. Her recent literary endeavors have garnered little fanfare, and her spirits are sagging as a result. In a bid to revive his own spirits, she invites him to a Halloween soiree at the opulent palazzo of former opera singer Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly). The pièce de résistance is a seance performed by the enigmatic Joyce Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh), touted in the press as "The Unholy Mrs. Reynolds".

As Poirot and Vitale accompany Ariadne across the winding canals, they arrive at the palazzo, where a gathering of children are enthralled by tales of its troubled past. According to local lore, this once-abandoned orphanage was beset by tragedy during the Plague, leaving behind whispers of a curse – the Children's Vendetta. Any victim marked with a slash is said to be haunted by the vengeful spirits of the children. Amidst the revelry, one young boy, Leopold (Jude Hill), remains aloof, preferring the pages of Edgar Allan Poe to the company of his peers. As Poirot and Ariadne mingle with Rowena, they are met with an air of melancholy, for it is a year since the tragic loss of Rowena's daughter, Alicia (Rowan Robinson). The haunting memory has left her struggling to find solace, let alone sell the palazzo.

Olga Seminoff (Camille Cottin), the housemaid, takes pity on Leopold as he pines for his nervous father, Dr. Leslie Ferrier (Jamie Dornan), who is still reeling from the loss of Alicia. As the evening wears on, Joyce Reynolds and her assistant, Desdemona Holland (Emma Laird), arrive at the palazzo, bringing with them an air of mystery. And then, without invitation, Alicia's former fiancé, Maxime Gerard (Kyle Allen), appears, claiming he has been summoned by someone else. The tension is palpable as Rowena and Dr. Ferrier make it clear they do not welcome his presence.

As the séance commences, Joyce sits at its center, surrounded by the gathering's solemn faces. Olga confides in Poirot that before her untimely demise, Alicia had begun experiencing eerie visions of the deceased children. The air is heavy with anticipation as Joyce appears to be channeling Alicia's spirit, her fingers seemingly guiding the keys on a nearby typewriter. Poirot's keen eyes, however, soon uncover the truth: a hidden accomplice, Desdemona's half-brother Nicholas (Ali Khan), was manipulating the machine from within the chimney. The room is left stunned as Joyce begins to whirl about, her moans and contortions eerily reminiscent of Alicia's tormented state, sending shivers down the spines of some of the guests.

Poirot, undeterred by the unsettling atmosphere, attempts to make a hasty exit, only to be dissuaded by Ariadne's fervent pleas. He then engages in a poignant conversation with Joyce, who confesses that it would be a cruel fate for her to be a mere pretender, but also acknowledges Poirot's own experiences with death and tragedy. With an air of gentle rebuke, she implores him to lighten his burden, as if sensing the weight of his own emotional scars.

As Poirot drifts away, he makes his way to the site where the children had once bobbed for apples, only to be startled by an unseen force pushing his head into the water's depths. The assailant flees, leaving Poirot gasping and disoriented. He is soon revived by Vitale and, as they approach the commotion outside, a blood-curdling scream pierces the air. Joyce's lifeless form comes crashing down, impaled on a statue's hand.

The storm raging outside, floodwaters engulfing the canals, effectively trapping everyone within the palazzo's walls. As panic sets in and paranoia begins to grip the guests, whispers circulate about the possibility of a malevolent force behind Joyce's untimely demise. Poirot, ever the keen detective, locks all doors and sets his mind racing with theories. He enlists Ariadne as his partner in crime-solving, and together they begin interviewing the suspects.

Their investigation leads them to discover a long-lost stuffed rabbit named Baba, once cherished by Alicia herself. This poignant reminder of the past serves as a catalyst for Poirot's inquiry into the mystery.

As Hercule Poirot (and) excuses himself for a brief respite in the bathroom, his mind begins to wander, and he becomes convinced that the ghostly apparition of Alicia materializes before him, reflected in the mirror's glassy surface. He seeks out Leopold, who attributes his own jitters to Dr. Ferrier, sharing tales of disembodied whispers from the spirits of the child victims. Meanwhile, Poirot and Ariadne (undertake) separate interviews with Nicholas and Desdemona, endeavoring to gather unbiased testimonies about the fateful evening's events.

Through their accounts, the siblings reveal their tumultuous past as Romani refugees seeking a new life in America, punctuated by tales of petty theft from Joyce and the looming threat of retribution. Desdemona's momentary lapse into defiance is abruptly halted when Olga intervenes, sending her crashing to the floor.

The sudden ringing of the foyer phone sets off a chain reaction of unease, with Poirot and Vitale (answering) only to find themselves met with an unsettling silence on the other end. As if conjured by the eerie atmosphere, Poirot appears to spot one of the ghostly children, before Ariadne's timely intervention dispels his vision. The sound of a child's lilting melody also wafts through the air, echoing Leopold's own auditory experience. Poirot becomes convinced that the haunting refrain originates from the basement, but Rowena (chuckles) at the notion, revealing its absence.

Intrigue piques as the group descends to explore further, stumbling upon a hidden room bearing the enigmatic phrase "dottore" – a cryptic nod to the Children's Vendetta. As tensions simmer, Dr. Ferrier's anxiety reaches a boiling point, precipitating a physical confrontation with Maxime that only Leopold's timely intervention can calm.

Ferrier retires to the music room, where he becomes trapped by Poirot's sole possession of the key. Amidst this escalating drama, Poirot and Ariadne turn their attention to Maxime, who clutches a torn fragment of a photograph featuring Alicia. His narrative weaves a tapestry of heartache and desperation as he recounts the demise of his engagement to Alicia, precipitated by Rowena's disapproval and Alicia's apparent desperation to placate her mother.

As Poirot's astute gaze scrutinized the invitation Maxime had received, he expertly deciphered the cryptic message "apple," a clue that would soon bear fruit. The arrival of Ariadne at his doorstep was followed by her thoughtfully presenting him with an apple, a gesture that only served to heighten Poirot's suspicions. With Vitale in tow, Poirot confronted the pair, revealing his profound understanding that they had conspired with Joyce to orchestrate his presence at the palazzo. The revelation was particularly noteworthy given Vitale's prior involvement as the officer who had extracted Alicia from the canal and conducted an investigation into her demise. Meanwhile, Ariadne's true intentions were motivated by a desire to capitalize on Poirot's inability to solve the seance, leveraging this perceived weakness to fuel her next literary endeavor – one that would surely be a departure from the creative drought she had recently experienced.

As if on cue, Desdemona burst into the room, urging Poirot to hasten his discovery of the key. The group's collective attention was soon diverted by the gruesome discovery of Ferrier's lifeless body, a knife lodged in his back. Leopold's devastation at the sight was palpable as he struggled to come to terms with this latest development.

Following the commotion, Olga sought Poirot out, sharing her observations about Rowena's unwavering loyalty to Alicia before her untimely demise. However, prior to Alicia's passing, Olga had been plagued by strange whispers emanating from her room – an unsettling phenomenon that only added to the sense of foreboding.

As Poirot pored over photographs of Alicia, a poignant moment unfolded as he noticed a tender image of the young girl she once was. This discovery resonated with his earlier intuition about seeing this same child in the palazzo's labyrinthine corridors. Furthermore, Poirot's trained eye detected the presence of a specific type of flower in one of the photographs – an observation that would later prove crucial to unraveling the tangled threads of the mystery.

In another fleeting instance of his remarkable deductive powers, Poirot was startled by the parrot's careless knockover of a teacup. As he moved to tidy up the mess, his attention was drawn to the second half of Maxime's portrait – a picture that revealed the tender bond between himself and Alicia, a connection that only served to deepen the enigma at hand.

As the detective's remarkable mind finally unravels the tangled web of deceit, Poirot gathers the assembled guests around him, revealing the shocking truth: Rowena herself is the mastermind behind the gruesome murders. The cunning culprit had cleverly concealed her sinister motives beneath a veneer of innocence, but Poirot's extraordinary faculties had ultimately pierced the veil.

With his remarkable deductive powers, Poirot exposes Rowena's ingenious plan to drug Alicia with a honey extracted from rhododendrons in her garden. This potent elixir not only rendered Alicia docile and compliant but also induced hallucinations, convincing the poor woman that she was seeing ghostly apparitions. The same honey had earlier befuddled Poirot himself when he consumed it with tea, causing him to experience a similar bout of paranormal visions.

As the truth begins to dawn on Olga, her conscience is wracked by overwhelming guilt and remorse for her unwitting role in Alicia's tragic demise. Rowena, meanwhile, was desperate to silence any potential threats to her scheme, resorting to murder when she discovered that either Joyce or Ferrier might be blackmailing her.

The clever detective soon unravels the tangled threads of Rowena's machinations, revealing a trail of deceit and manipulation that led to a series of gruesome murders. He uncovers the truth behind Ferrier's untimely demise: Rowena had threatened Leopold's life unless he carried out her wishes, leading him to take his own life to spare his son.

As the storm clouds gather ominously overhead, Poirot gives chase as Rowena attempts a desperate escape. The detective's keen instincts alert him to the danger lurking behind her, where Alicia's ghostly apparition seems to materialize, drawing Rowena down into the murky waters of the canal, where she meets a fittingly watery end.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, Poirot and Ariadne share a poignant farewell, their paths forever diverging. Olga, meanwhile, finds solace in adopting Leopold, while Poirot discovers that he was the true blackmailer, using the ill-gotten gains to support his ailing father. The game is finally over, but the lasting impact of Rowena's sinister plot will forever haunt those who survived its deadly grasp.

As Poirot settles back into his familiar surroundings, a sense of equilibrium is restored to his remarkable mind. However, his introspection is soon disrupted by an unexpected visitor - a man whose countenance betrays the weight of sorrow and desperation. His eyes, red-rimmed from crying, beseech Poirot's extraordinary faculties to unravel the tangled threads surrounding the tragic demise of his parents and brother. It is here that Poirot's remarkable analytical mind springs into action, having already intuited subtle yet telling details that had gone unnoticed by others. With a keen instinctive sense, he had deduced the involvement of the family doctor in a scheme driven by the promise of inheritance. Seizing upon this tantalizing thread, the great detective embarks on a fresh investigation, his remarkable faculties honed to their sharpest point as he delves deeper into the labyrinthine complexities of the case.