Invitation à un Meurtre

Seems to be a remake of agatha christie's novel "and then there were none". They even mention christie by name in the first minute! Micha barton is miranda green. She notices little details. So when guests at an estate start dying, she's determined to figure it out before the police arrive. Alex hyde white (plays sean, the butler) is the son of wilfrid hyde white, who was in the 1965 version of ten little indians! And in some other pretty big films too. My fair lady, third man. It's mostly good. Never gets too suspenseful, but there are some twists and turns. The guests' stories near the end really slow down the story. They seem to drag on and on. And one demerit for some silly little mistakes that a solid christie fan probably would not make. Directed by stephen shimek.

So the acting in this flick is absolutely terrible but it certainly did not get any help from the writing. I am a life long fan of Agatha Christie and other mystery authors, as well as some film noir and I'm a little crazy about giallos. I also love a good mystery-comedy like the 1985 classic, Clue: The Movie with Tim Curry and Madeline Kahn. I would go as far as to say that Clue is one of my top five favorite films of all time. I thought more recent films like Knives Out and See How They Run were both fun and entertaining, while not being up to my highest standards. BUT THIS....did a teenager write this screenplay as fan fiction or what?

Casting a middle aged woman as the obnoxious but lovable, brilliant Hercule Poirot in a skirt could have worked. Could have. An older, curvier Mischa Barton can't plod through movies on her youthful glamorous looks anymore - she's borderline unrecognizable as an average, curvy blonde of about 40 - but that's not the problem: she can't act.

At bottom it is the writing that is terrible, though, that much is clear by the multiple caricatures which should be delightful and funny but just end up coming across as wooden and ridiculous.

There is a enormous dark house with chandeliers, and I do love a nice pair of vintage curtains.

Miranda Green (Mischa Barton) is a florist in 30's England. She is skilled in observing and is obsessed with murder mystery books especially those of Agatha Christie. She receives a mysterious invitation from unknown textile tycoon Lord Findley. She joins five other guests on a passenger train to his island estate. There are three staff members but Lord Findley is apparently late in arriving. Soon, Miranda gets her murder mystery to solve.

I liked about two thirds of this movie. It has the Agatha Christie feel. Initially, the main problem is its artificial tone. It doesn't help that these people are going to this place for nothing more than curiosity. Miranda would do it, but only one other seems to have the motivation. It's a murder mystery whodunnit. It's fun. Then the last section tries to solve the mystery quickly and randomly. I don't like a lot of the last third. In the age of streaming, this needs more time and this could be two or three part series. In an aside, I did not recognize Mischa Barton. I assumed that she's some random English actress.

At first this movie had all the hallmarks of a decent little detective mystery movie in the style of Knives Out or Mourder on the Orient express. It has a decent set up, a coherent plot, it establishes its characters and starts to build on their motives.

Unfortunately, it then suffers from having a beginning, no middle and then ends. Why? Probably due to budget or talent or deadline. Who knows. But right until it had me hooked about an hour in, it started to move toward a conclusion and finished.

It's a shame. Micha Barton was a surprise and the set up was good, so, half a film. Still, better than no film at all.

Six strangers receive invites to the home of Millionaire Lewis Findley, when they arrive their host is absent, they anxiously wait to learn their purpose for being there.

The first couple of minutes all seemed to point to one thing, a reworking of And then there were none, the ultimate Whodunnit, we had the strangers, the island, the invitations, that's where the similarities end.

Let's be honest, it's nonsense, but if you are fan of mysteries and whodunnits, you may just get some enjoyment out of it, there are some interesting moments, and the story has a few clever ideas.

For me, it had the look and feel of a stage play, entertaining enough, maybe a little rough around the edges at times.

The accents are a little hit and miss, and at no point does it feel as though it's England, I've not checked the production details, but I'm assuming The States or Canada.

Mischa Barton does a fine job, more Fletcher than Marple, but pleasing enough. Chris Browning stole the show for me, I enjoyed his performance.

6/10.