Imagine the hot sun beaming down on you in Egypt, and you’re stuck with people you despise. This is the case in “Death on the Nile” which came out in theaters on Feb. 11, 2022. A mystery thriller set in 1937, taking place on a steamboat on the Nile River in Egypt. The plot centers around a young couple, Simon Doyle (Armie Hammer) and Linnet Ridgeway (Gal Godot), who go honeymooning in Egypt with their closest friends. However, on the steamboat, three people are mysteriously murdered, putting everyone on board in a panic.
The couple met at a dance club after Doyle was already engaged to Ridgeway’s best friend Jacqueline de Bellefort (Emma Mackey). Bellefort has been following the couple everywhere to try to be close to Doyle. This really angers Ridgeway because she thinks Bellefort needs to get over Doyle and move on. Towards the middle of the movie, a scene takes place where the couple almost dies at the Temple of Abu Simbel when the boat decides to make a stop. A boulder had rolled down a cliff and almost crushed Ridgeway. This makes her believe that Bellefort is trying to kill her. Eventually, Ridgeway is found dead in her room, and this is when detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) on the ship begins trying to solve the case, inciting the central plot of the film.
One of my biggest issues with the film is that the movie starts out from a scene taking place during World War I, which gives us unnecessary background about the detective, and it has no significant relevance to the story. I believe the directors were trying to give an emotional background to Detective Poirot, but considering how unemotional this character is during the rest of the film, there was no need to give emotional background on him in the beginning. Although, this scene is very cut throat which does set up the correct vibe for the rest of the movie.
Despite the boring backstory of Detective Poirot the plot was overall enjoyable, however it was extremely predictable which did take away from my enjoyment of the film. Predictability was not my only issue with the story as one of the main characters gets killed off early in the movie, making it boring to watch until the very end of the movie when action finally starts being taken. Despite its issues the plot was very enjoyable, with it was not far-fetched that a rich woman would be killed for her money. Also, the movie was very inclusive because two of the main characters were a lesbian couple and four of the main characters were people of color. This helped the movie to be a little more modern, which made it more enjoyable because we saw all kinds of people in the movie.
Overall, I was very impressed with the technical elements in the movie. The cinematography was incredible in this movie with pictures of the Great Pyramids to a moving steamboat on the Nile River. This film had sandstorms, pyramids, wildlife and more, and it was all exceptionally filmed so that the audience felt like they were there with them. The sound however, did struggle at times because the detective spoke with a French accent and was soft spoken. With these two combined, it was hard to hear and understand him quite a bit throughout the movie. The lighting in this movie was fantastic making it feel like it was daytime even though the movie premiered at night. The warm tone to the lighting made it feel like we were in Egypt during the daytime with extremely hot temperatures.
