On Friday, Feb. 11, “Death on the Nile” was released into theaters. Rated PG-13, this mystery movie directed by Kenneth Branagh created conversation on whether it would be like “Murder on the Orient Express,” a highly revered film also directed by Kenneth Branagh. However, after watching “Death on the Nile” I can conclude that this movie does not live up to its potential.

The story starts with rich socialite Linnet Ridgeway, played by Gal Gadot, getting married to Simon Doyle, played by Armie Hammer. However, this marriage is not happily celebrated by Jacqueline De Bellefort, played by Emma Mackey, as Jacqueline was previously engaged to Simon Doyle six weeks prior.

The main detective Hercule Poirot, played by Kenneth Branagh, gets invited to join the wedding party by Bouc, played by Tom Bateman. At the reception he notices the dysfunction and secrets surrounding the group.

To start off the suspects there is Rosalie Otterbourne, played by Letitia Wright, the daughter of jazz singer Salome Otterbourne, played by Sophie Okonedo. The main source of music for most of the parties, Salome tries to change the tense atmosphere that follows this dramatic group.
Next, is Louise Bourget, the mistreated envious maid to Linnet. Bouc, from Murder on the Orient Express, finds Poirot and invites himself into the lavish wedding party. His mother, Euphemia, played by Annette Bening, joins Bouc throughout his trip in Egypt, painting the scenes of this desert country.

Andrew Katchadourian, played by Ali Fazal, is the cousin and lawyer of Linnet and holds secret motives regarding important financial paperwork. Marie Van Schuyle, played by Jennifer Saunders, and her nurse Bowers, played by Dawn French, join this wedding party with secret social advantages resulting in this marriage. And last, but not least, Dr. Windlesham, the former fiancee to Linnet.

With intertwined stories and secret motives, this creates a complicated case for Poirot when a murder is found on the ship. Trapped on a boat out in the Nile River with a murderer, the audience had high expectations for the remainder of the movie, which the film did not meet, specifically due to the the two leading actors’ poor acting. The two main leads of the story did not have good chemistry and failed to convince the audience of their “true love.”

Gal Gadot delivered her lines very one tone and flat and did not give off the emotions her character was having effectively. However, the other actors in this movie did a great job at selling their character’s interests and motives.

Also, the plot was very predictable with some of the original, basic reveals done many times before in mystery movies. Halfway through the movie, one could already tell who committed the murders.

Gal Gadot delivered her lines very one tone and flat and did not give off the emotions her character was having effectively. Whether it be bad script writing or just bad delivery by the actors, most of Gal Gadot’s and Armie Hammer’s scenes and lines were very cringey and unconvincing. Although, actors Letitia Wright and Annette Bening did a great job at selling their character’s interests and motives.

Their bad acting greatly affected the movie to not be as successful as it should have. Although they are not the only ones to blame. As most movie watchers know, actual movies aren’t filmed in the setting that is being portrayed in the film.

Additionally, the graphics and CGI were inadequate, making the illusion look unrealistic. Whenever CGI or green screens were used in this film, one could obviously tell the actors were on a set. The graphics technology looked like it belonged in the 60s and further added to the lousy quality of the movie.

All mystery movies, in order to be successful, need proper suspense buildup and shocking reveals, which the movie lacked. The suspense would begin to climb at a murder and immediatly fizzle out once supposedly “hidden” clues, which were very apparent, causing the audience to already know the solution to the problem before it was revealed.

Personally, I would not recommend this movie to anyone due to the awful acting, predictable storyline, terrible CGI and defective reveals. I suggest for fans of Kenneth Bragnah to watch any of the other 50 movies he is in instead of this one. This was a very disappointing mystery movie and is not worth anyone’s time.