Diksha Sundriyal
Directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot, ‘A Haunting in Venice’ serves as the third entry in the series of films adapting the books of Agatha Christie. The movie, which is loosely inspired by Christie’s ‘Hallowe’en Party,’ blends supernatural elements with the murder mystery genre, keeping the audience on edge about the nature of events unfolding on the scene. While Poirot does not believe in the supernatural, by the end of the film, even he is rattled by all the things he sees during the night he spends at Rowena Drake’s house, which had an infamous reputation for being the hotspot of tragedies stirred by the spirits residing in the house. As the credits start to roll, the audience, much like the film’s protagonist, is left flummoxed, and questions arise about the authenticity of the horror stories connected to the place. SPOILERS AHEAD
Poirot is the Only One to See Ghosts at the Palazzo
The story of ‘A Haunting in Venice’ unfolds at Palazzo Lacrime Dei Giovani, which has a horrifying history. The place is cursed with “Children’s Vendetta” which relates to the death of the children living in the house, an orphanage at the time, when they were abandoned by their carers during the plague. It is believed that their ghosts occupy the building now and are seen and heard by the residents of the place.
When Hercule Poirot arrives at the palazzo, he is completely unmoved by the story, believing it to be a made-up story created to scare children. Later, he deduces that the story is being used to hide the crimes committed within the building, and all the mention of ghosts is just a coverup by the murderer. That is until he sees the ghosts himself. After the clock strikes midnight, he starts hainvg visions which are unexplainable. First, he sees the ghost of Alicia Drake in the bathroom, when she appears behind him in the mirror. At the same time, the taps don’t seem to work and when they do, the water coming out of them is burning hot. When Poirot turns the taps off and opens the door to talk to young Leopold, the boy mentions that the taps are still open.
Then there’s the matter of the voice Poirot hears. It seems like a girl singing somewhere inside the house, but interestingly, no one else hears her. The detective believes that it must be some child who was left behind after the Halloween party, and indeed he does find a girl hiding around the house. But later, he sees the picture of young Alicia and realises that the little he saw was her. The fact that the girl was a ghost is also evident from Ariadne not seeing her when Poirot did.
The Ghosts in the Drake Residence are Hallucinations
A staunch non-believer in the supernatural, Poirot is stumped by his visions and cannot make sense of what is happening around him, until he discovers the source of his visions. Earlier that night, after he had been attacked by the killer, he was given tea mixed with honey by Ariadne, who found the honey hidden in Rowena Drake’s linen closet.
Later, when Maxime cuts his hand on the knife and applies honey on it, it tastes weird to him, and that’s when Poirot realises what has happened. It also leads him to cracking the case and make sense for why he was suddenly seeing Alicia Drake’s ghost. If there is one point when even Poirot is rattled and can’t figure out whether what he saw was real or imaginary is when Rowena Drake falls from her balcony. Right before that happens, he sees Alicia’s ghost behind her and then pulling her back, making Rowena fall. But even then, it is his mind making up things because he is still under the effect of the poison honey.
Because Rowena stood so close to the boundary, Poirot’s mind must have wandered to the concern of her falling off. He must have connected it to how Alicia’s death was staged as a suicide and how ironic it would be for Rowena to die the same way. The mind works in mysterious ways and due to his brains being muddled up at the moment, it comes to him in the form of Alicia’s ghost pulling her mother to death the same way her body was thrown off the balcony. The only thing Rowena wanted was to be with her daughter, and now, she can be with her, forever floating in the waters of Venice.
Leopold Ferrier Lends Credibility to the Horror Stories
Having consumed the tea laced with poison, Poirot was experiencing the hallucinogenic effects induced by it. His mind was working faster than he could process and putting things that he couldn’t yet make sense of. Because he was deeply occupied by Alicia’s death, he saw her repeatedly, as she was the only ghost anyone could talk about. He’d seen her picture as a child, which is why he thought of children’s ghosts in the palazzo, a young Alicia came to him. The reason he heard her sing was because of Rowena’s singing career which she inextricably linked to her daughter.
While all this makes sense, what puts a wrench in the logic is 11-year-old Leopold Ferrier claiming that he hears the children in the palazzo. When Poirot asks if anyone else can hear the girl singing, Leopold asks Poirot if he can hear her too. Despite the logical conclusion of everything in the end, the boy remains steadfast in his belief that there are indeed ghosts in the palazzo and they are truer than the people around him. He also calls Joyce Reynolds a fake because the ghosts told him so.
While one could take it as a sign of the supernatural, the only logical explanation is that young Leopold was living in an imaginary world. He is seen reading the macabre tales of Edgar Allen Poe, preferring it over Charles Dickens, which shows that he as an affinity for the supernatural. His father’s mental health issues also exacerbate his interest, as he tends to enjoy his time with the stories rather than other kids. One could say that this is the only way his young mind can process the things around him, and he is more prone to believe in them because they also make his world more interesting and give him an escape from his loneliness.
Read More: A Haunting in Venice: Is Joyce Reynolds a Real or Fake Medium?
