Death on the Nile (2022)
Murder was just the beginning
Put this one off for a while, largely because it’s me and I get cinematically distracted.Anyways, tonight we dive into a mystery on a river, where a corpse is bound to show up. A glamorous party for a rich wedding, and after a good while mystery is afoot - but it’s also got some folks I recognize and some I don’t, and it’s got that classic 20’s look, so it should be fun! Tonight, there’s Death on the Nile.
It’s a bad time - the great war is on, and a group of trench-housed soldiers are about to have to make a valiant effort to take a bridge. One pipes up about some wind conditions, and viola, success! Not a single man lost - except his leader who finds a booby trap the hard way. Fast forward to the hospital where the recovering smart fellow is being met by his love interest to set up a bit of a theme for the movie to come, and we get whisked off into the future! Well, his future anyways as he checks out a club with some fantastic desserts and some good music. A couple meets up with a famous then to-be wife’s rich friend, and some serious tensions rise on the dance floor. Fast forward again, and we find ourselves in Egypt with our detective friend on vacation, meeting up incidentally with an old friend, and getting invited to a party with his just-married friends - that just so happens to be the man and his could-have-been wife’s friend! More tensions as the old flame keeps kicking around and stalking them - but nothing a fancy boat ride won’t fix - at least until murder happens! It’s time for the detective to do what he does best.
The actors do a very, very good job here. There are some quite emotional moments that are delivered without so much as a word, and it goes a ways to show how good these people are doing here. Sure, at times folks are going to be super suspicious as red herrings, or maybe a little overblown or under-selling something, but it’s nothing like you’d get out of a B-movie with deliveries and performances. It’s some pretty grade A stuff, and if you are here for that level of performances you’ll find yourself in a great spot without even needing the actual story around it, even if they mystery and how it plays out is pretty good. You’ll find characters to love, interactions to feel, and probably a person or two to oggle with your eyes for whichever way your eyes peek. Just, you know, don’t be creepy about it.
The characters themselves all have plenty of reasons to be suspect, as one would expect out of a good mystery. Alibis, tensions, spats, even the occasional fist fight all muddy the waters of this who dunnit. It does a wonderful job of playing that mystery back and forth, even if you have suspects that are right by the end of it long before hand. Some characters are of course more central to the story than others, but it gives us most the info we need to know as we need to know it. There’s no real major weakest link here, although certainly the way everything intertwines to deliver that final reveal does cause some to stand out above the masses as far as interesting. For example, a move made by the cousin earlier on when it comes to signing some papers makes you very suspicious of just what was in those papers, and will have you putting much more thought into what’s going on with him than our singer, who largely doesn’t seem to ever have any visible beef or conflicts with anyone.
The costumes are fun to look at, in that fancy old speak-easy kind of way- at least in my opinion that’s what it invokes in my mind. The bluesy singer’s constant presence probably only helps to strengtehn that thought in my head, as does all these full suits floating about. Admittedly, it’s not the kind of costumes that innately blow me away like some science fiction or fantasy stuff can do, but the costumes all have a nice attention to detail that invokes a past era, and it’s way more interesting to the eyes then everyday modern attire that we are so accustomed to seeing we vaguely even recognize it as costumes. The ladies do pull out some pretty kicking dresses as well, and our bunch of lovely talent gets to be all the rage in such eye-catching wardrobe amongst all their sharp dressed men.
The setting helps to isolate and create a scene of claustrophobia when the murder final begins, but before that for someone who hasn’t been to Egypt it offers a touch of foreign sight seeing, with beautiful landmarks to go along with the fabulous interiors and river scenery. Of course, tensions aren’t just on the boat, and the use of the black and white filter for all the “history” stuff helps distinguish the two acts visually without the need for much else. The setting of Egypt is also used to pick out some choice segments of tales that go in with the theme of the movie and it’s mystery: that of the dangers both positive and negative of love. It does not get visually boring, and considering the amount of build up to the part where the mystery starts, it’s a good bonus to help keep the watchers attention healthy without straight up just demanding it from them.
The mystery in itself is good. It uses it to fun effect, even if I don’t think the end result will be all that much a surprise to a good number of folks. Part of this might be because the sprinkling of clues - or perhaps the lack of clues to more solidly point to more than one or two sets of people in such an ensemble. That said, the movie uses it’s counter-tactics pretty good as well, so it’ll keep a decent number not entirely locked in to their answer. Of course, if the mystery wasn’t enough for the thinking types, there’s also this entire thematic resonance on love and it’s pros and cons and different types and results as the movie proceeds. Those that like commentary will probably easily dive into that and slither out with all sorts of talking points - but for me, my brain was more more relegated into being distracted by a certain mustache and the great acting.
This is a fun murder mystery. It might not be as high-comical as something like the Glass Onion director pops for his detective, but it does still manage to get in it’s levity through it’s slightly wacky detective. It turns out this is actually part of a series as well, and since I forgot to watch The Orient Express one, I’ve started in the middle and will have to check out the rest some other time. You want a mystery that’s well acted and has some real style? Check it out.