DUBAI: Set against the atmospheric and visceral backdrop of a post-World War II, storm-lashed Venice, Kenneth Branagh’s latest film is an atmospheric and dark take on an Agatha Christie whodunit. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @arabnews.lifestyle And “A Haunting in Venice,” Branagh’s third film directing and starring as popular mustachioed detective Hercule Poirot, is his best effort yet – strictly speaking in the artistic sense. Whether it’s as entertaining as its predecessors – “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Death on the Nile” – is another matter altogether. “A Haunting in Venice” opens with an older Poirot, retired from detective work and still jaded by a world that saw two world wars back-to-back. And while potential clients hound him day and night, Poirot hires himself a bodyguard, Portfoglio (Riccardo Scamarcio), to keep them at bay. But retirement doesn’t last forever, of course. Things take a turn when Tina Fey’s plucky crime writer, Ariadne Oliver, comes knocking presenting a whole new challenge to lure the ageing detective out of his forced isolation. She wants Poirot’s help to debunk a famous psychic (played by the wonderful Michelle Yeoh, criminally underused here) who has been invited to do a séance at the home of grieving opera singer Rowena Drake (Kelly Reilly) on All Hallow’s Day. The cursed palazzo – gorgeous but crumbing and falling apart – sets the stage for the séance and the ensuing tragedies, forcing the group to spend the night as the detective sets out once again, this time fighting against a seemingly paranormal criminal. The film’s biggest strength is its visual beauty. Each shot is a work of art as Branagh indulges his affinity for canted angles, dreamlike sequences and scenes awash in a filter of regret and decay. And while it is enjoyable to see the filmmaker indulge his artistic tendencies, the story suffers from pacing issues and a bloated cast. For instance, veterans like Branagh, Fey and Yeoh are in top form – alongside Jamie Dornan’s twitchy, war veteran doctor – but the rest don’t really bring much to the table. Another star in the making, however, is Dornan’s “Belfast” co-star Jude Hill, who plays the former’s precocious son, forever with his nose in a book while he’s not talking to ghosts. Speaking of ghosts, the horror in “A Haunting in Venice,” a mixture of slow dread and a few sprinkled jump scares, will not impress any fans of the genre but is enough to tell a gothic mystery story. In “A Haunting in Venice,” we find an even more mature Poirot, no more an observer but deeply rooted in the world around him. So, if you’re looking for a story set in real world loss and trauma, this one’s for you.