Suspicion Served With Champagne

Read Time:6 Minute, 4 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Death on the Nile (4KUHD)
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Genre: Mystery, Crime, Drama
Year Released: 1978, Kino Lorber 4K 2026
Runtime: 2h 20m
Director(s): John Guillermin
Writer(s): Agatha Christie, Anthony Shaffer
Cast: Peter Ustinov, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Angela Lansbury, David Niven
Where to Watch: available now, order your copy here: www.kinolorber.com or www.amazon.com

RAVING REVIEW: How much tension does a murder mystery really need if the cast is good enough? DEATH ON THE NILE answers that question with a kind of confidence that feels almost rebellious by modern standards. Rather than leaning hard on suspense or dread, the film treats murder as an excuse for character, atmosphere, and theatrical indulgence. It isn’t in a hurry to disturb you, and it isn’t particularly interested in urgency. What it offers instead is a carefully staged social exercise where everyone looks guilty and extraordinary, and the pleasure comes from watching the pieces move rather than from fearing where they’ll land.

This 1978 adaptation arrives carrying the weight of its predecessor’s success, but it makes a conscious pivot. Where earlier Christie adaptations leaned into prestige and reverence, this version is looser, cheekier, and more willing to let its cast steal scenes outright. The mystery remains, but it’s rarely the primary focus. What drives the film is the interplay between personalities, each with just enough sting to feel heightened without tipping fully into parody. The result is a whodunit that plays more like an ensemble showcase than a pressure cooker.

Peter Ustinov’s debut as Hercule Poirot sets the tone. This is not a fastidious, tightly wound detective operating on a different frequency than everyone else. Ustinov’s Poirot is indulgent, amused, and commanding, moving through the story as if he already knows how it ends and is simply enjoying the scenery along the way. His performance reframes the character as someone who disarms through curiosity rather than severity. It’s a choice that trades the traditional portrayal for warmth, and while it lowers the stakes, it also makes the experience easier to sink into.

The surrounding cast turns that approach into a feature rather than a flaw. Bette Davis and Maggie Smith spar; their dynamic functions less as necessity than as extended chaos, a role the film happily indulges. Angela Lansbury’s performance operates in its own little world entirely, leaning into excess with such conviction that it becomes one of the film’s defining pleasures. These characters aren’t subtle, but they aren’t careless either. Each performance is calibrated to distract, to pull focus, and to muddy the waters just enough that motive becomes secondary to presence.

Mia Farrow provides a necessary counterbalance. Her performance carries genuine emotion, grounding the film whenever it threatens to float off entirely into camp. She plays pain straight in a story filled with exaggeration, and that contrast matters. Without her, the film risks becoming a series of entertaining sketches loosely stitched together by a murder plot. With her, there’s at least one throughline that reminds you real damage has been done, even if the film is more interested in how everyone reacts to it than in the act itself.

Anthony Shaffer’s screenplay knowingly leans into this balance. The structure of Christie’s story remains intact, but the emphasis shifts. Red herrings are delivered with a wink to the audience, exposition is often folded into conversation, and revelations arrive less like shocks than like confirmations of suspicions you’ve been forming. The film trusts the audience to keep up, but it doesn’t challenge them aggressively. This is a mystery designed to be savored, not conquered.

At nearly two and a half hours, DEATH ON THE NILE is content to bask in setting, costume, and personality. The locations are presented not as backdrops for danger but as extensions of the film’s opulence. Every frame seems to invite you to admire rather than fear what’s happening. For viewers who crave sustained tension, this approach can feel indulgent, verging on inactivity.

Viewed through the lens of this new 4K presentation, those qualities feel intentional rather than dated. The restoration highlights how much of the film’s appeal lies in craft and performance rather than urgency. The image clarity emphasizes detail, expression, and environment, reinforcing the idea that this is a film meant to be watched carefully, not rushed through. It’s a reminder that mystery once thrived as a social experience, something to be discussed over drinks rather than solved in silence.

DEATH ON THE NILE ultimately prevails because it understands its priorities. It’s less concerned with making you anxious than with keeping you entertained. It wants you to enjoy the company, admire the setting, and smile at the audacity of a cast clearly having a good time. As a result, it may not linger in the mind as the ultimate puzzle, but it remains a deeply watchable example of how star power, tone, and restraint can coexist.

This isn’t Christie at her most ruthless or her most suspenseful. It’s Christie as an excuse for elegance, excess, and performance. Taken on those terms, DEATH ON THE NILE earns its reputation as a comfortable classic, one that trades tension for charm and accepts that sometimes the pleasure of the journey matters more than the shock of the destination.

Product Extras:
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
Brand New HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative
Audio Commentary by Film Historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell, and Nathaniel Thompson
Triple-Layered UHD100 Disc
Optional English Subtitles

DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
Brand New HD Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative
Audio Commentary by Film Historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchel,l and Nathaniel Thompson
The Making of Death on the Nile
Archival Interview with Peter Ustinov
Archival Interview with Jane Birkin
Theatrical Teaser and Trailer
Dual-Layered BD50 Disc
Optional English Subtitles

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[photo courtesy of KINO LORBER]

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