In part two, Fiona looks at the more recent adaptations and Christie-adjacent work on screen!

by Fiona Underhill, Contributor

2015-2020 – The Sarah Phelps Christies

If there was one person who revived my interest and passion for Agatha Christie, it wasn’t Branagh or Johnson – it was Sarah Phelps. From 2015 to 2020, the BBC aired a Christie mini-series adapted by screenwriter Phelps, usually consisting of three episodes, and often aired around the New Year. As is so often the case with Christie, the casting made all the difference and is usually the main factor and what makes one that’s just okay, or one that’s sublime. Here they are, in order of how much I liked them:

5. The ABC Murders (2019) starring John Malkovich, Rupert Grint, Shirley Henderson, and Jack Farthing. Despite the cast, this one was pretty boring unfortunately.

4. And Then There Were None (2015) starring Aidan Turner, Charles Dance, Sam Neill, and Miranda Richardson. A good cast, definitely worth watching, but not one of the best.

3. The Pale Horse (2020) starring Rufus Sewell, Kaya Scodelario, Bertie Carvel, and Henry Lloyd-Hughes. Lovely combination of spooky gothic and witchy vibes in this one, and Sewell is a brilliant as ever.

2. The Witness for the Prosecution (2017) starring Andrea Riseborough, Billy Howle, Toby Jones, and Kim Cattrall. Fantastic cast, with some of the roles better cast than in the 50s film. Riseborough is consistently incredible and Howle is a little-known, but excellent British actor.

1. Ordeal by Innocence (2018) starring Morven Christie, Anthony Boyle, Christian Cooke, Bill Nighy, Matthew Goode, Luke Treadaway, Anna Chancellor, and Ella Purnell. Absolutely incredible ensemble cast, just so good!

The best Christie ‘Knock-Off’ movies:

There are many movies which feel like they should be Christie adaptations, but somehow aren’t. Christie’s influence on the murder mystery genre is obviously enormous and many filmmakers have tipped their hat to her by making their own homages. My favorite non-Christie Christie is probably Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes (1938). There’s a lot of thematic and tonal crossover between Christie, Daphne Du Maurier, Patricia Highsmith and Hitchcock (Hitch of course adapted Du Maurier several times, and Highsmith once). You can feel Christie’s influence on the likes of Rope (1948) and in more of Hitchcock’s work.

The Last of Sheila (1973) and Clue (1985) have both had renewed interest in recent years, thanks to Rian Johnson. Clue is an absolutely delightful and hilarious Christie parody, while also being the best movie adaptation of a board game ever. It features a tour-de-force from Tim Curry, as well as Madeline Kahn, Lesley Ann Warren, Christopher Lloyd and Michael McKean all being iconic. The Last of Sheila stars Ian McShane, Raquel Welch, James Mason, Dyan Cannon and more in an overcooked plot on a yacht.

Gosford Park (2001) is another great one, which is unsurprising given that it’s made by the best director of large ensemble casts of all time; Robert Altman and written by the king of period dramas; Julian Fellowes. Shockingly, I don’t love Knives Out (2019) and Glass Onion (2022) as much as most people – but I like Rian Johnson a lot and definitely thank him for bringing the murder mystery back in fashion.

Movies about Christie, or featuring Christie as a character

Christie led a fascinating life, and an endless source of intrigue has been the time when she went missing and appeared to enter the plot of one of her own movies. Agatha (1979) speculates about what happened during this time, and stars Vanessa Redgrave, Timothy Dalton as her first husband (who is so astonishingly beautiful that you will completed understand why it drives Agatha to distraction), and bizarrely – Dustin Hoffman. The hotel and other Northern English locations are worth seeing, and it’s a curious oddity for Christie enthusiasts.

Three seemingly connected movies were released between 2018 and 2020 which speculate on Christie’s life, but Christie is played by a different actress in each one for some reason. Agatha and the Truth of Murder (2018, set in 1926) speculates on the same period as the 1979 movie, and gives an elaborate reason why Christie went missing. Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar (2019, set in 1928) is the best of the three, it’s set in Egypt and has a murder plot surrounding Christie meeting her second husband, played by The Little Mermaid’s Prince Eric – Jonah Hauer-King. The romance definitely elevates this one. Agatha and the Midnight Murders (2020, set in 1940) is set during the London Blitz of WWII, with Helen Baxendale as Christie, but the plot to this one is not great and is too ridiculous.

I know I’m in a minority here, but I happen to like See How They Run (2022) more than either of Johnson’s murder mysteries. It has the deliciously ingenious setting of a murder happening amongst the cast and crew of Christie’s long-running play The Mousetrap in early 50s London. It stars Saoirse Ronan and Sam Rockwell as an extremely unlikely buddy cop duo, a delightful Harris Dickinson as Dickie Attenborough, as well as Adrien Brody, David Oyelowo, Ruth Wilson, Sian Clifford, Reece Shearsmith, and Lucian Msamati. Shirley Henderson has an important cameo role as Christie herself. It’s very funny and just a wonderful treat from start to finish, and I’ve already rewatched it a couple of times since it was released.

Modern Christies 2017-2022

Another one from writer Julian Fellowes is the movie Crooked House (2017), which has a wonderful cast including Glenn Close, Christina Hendricks, Terence Stamp, Max Irons, Julian Sands, and Gillian Anderson. This features perhaps the most stunning house of any Christie adaptation (the exteriors are Minley Manor in Hampshire), and it’s a really great film – highly recommended.

A TV mini-series written and directed by Hugh Laurie - Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? (2022) - is another one that I’d strongly recommend. It stars Will Poulter and Lucy Boynton as childhood friends from different social classes who reunite when older to try to solve a murder. Laurie also has a supporting role, as does Daniel Ings, Jonathan Jules, Miles Jupp, Alistair Petrie, and Paul Whitehouse. Poulter is hilariously swole thanks to his Marvel role, but you can decide for yourself if that’s a bonus or not. This is another one I’ve rewatched more than once, and would happily watch again right now.

The Kenneth Branagh movies

And we now finally come to the reason we’re here – Kenneth Branagh. Before Johnson made the murder mystery popular again, Branagh made his version of Murder on the Orient Express in 2017, with himself as Poirot. This has a pretty horrendous cast including Johnny Depp, Josh Gad and Daisy Ridley, although there’s a few positives such as Michelle Pfeiffer. It looks hideous, with the CGI and the color palette being really off-putting and is pretty unpleasant experience to sit through.

Again, I realize that I’m probably in the minority here, but I enjoyed Death on the Nile (2022)! It looks ugly once again, with the unnaturally blue skies and horrific use of greenscreen in all of the scenes involving the pyramids and other Egyptian sites. However, the cast (which many were calling cursed in the run-up to release) is less starry, but more suited to their roles. Tom Bateman’s Bouc is a highlight of the Branagh Christie movies. Oh, and we get a moustache backstory in this, which is a hilarious thing to include in a Poirot movie.

It will probably come as no surprise that I’m really looking forward to A Haunting in Venice (set for release on September 15, 2023). Branagh has really leaned into the ghostly horror in this one, and Venice is the perfect setting for a spooky atmosphere. I have read Halloween Party, which this film is loosely based on, and I’m intrigued to see how it works as an adaptation. The Branagh Christies are nowhere close to the 70s movies, but I’m just happy that he seems to be churning them out with regularity and that murder mysteries are back on our screens once more, after decades of them being out of favor.