Crooked House
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Gilles Paquet-Brenner
Screenplay by	Julian Fellowes Tim Rose Price Gilles Paquet-Brenner
Based on	Crooked House by Agatha Christie
Produced by	James Spring Sally Wood Joseph Abrams
Starring	Glenn Close Terence Stamp Max Irons Stefanie Martini Julian Sands Gillian Anderson Christina Hendricks
Cinematography	Sebastian Winterø
Edited by	Peter Christelis
Music by	Hugo de Chaire
Production companies	Brilliant Films Metro International Entertainment Fred Films
Distributed by	Vertical Entertainment (United States)[1] Stage 6 Films (International)[2]
Release date	31 October 2017 (2017-10-31) (Italy)
Running time	115 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$10 million[3]

Crooked House is a 2017 mystery film directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner, based on Agatha Christie’s 1949 novel of the same name. The film stars Max Irons, Terence Stamp, Glenn Close, Gillian Anderson, and Stefanie Martini. Principal photography began in September 2016, and the film aired in the UK on Channel 5 on 17 December 2017.

Plot

Sophia Leonides, granddaughter of the late Greek business tycoon Aristide Leonides, visits private investigator Charles Hayward. She wants Charles to investigate Aristide's death, suspecting that he was murdered by a member of her idiosyncratic and large family. Aristide's insulin injection had been laced with eserine from his eye drops, causing a fatal heart attack. Sophia believes this was deliberate, not accidental. Charles reluctantly takes the case, partly because he had a love affair with Sophia in Cairo. Charles seeks the consent of Chief Inspector Taverner of Scotland Yard to look into the case. Taverner had served with Charles's father, a decorated former policeman.

Charles interviews the various members of the family, finding motives for each of them. All get bequests from Aristide's estate, but resented the way he bullied and manipulated them. Lady Edith de Haviland was the sister of Aristide's late first wife; she moved in to care for her motherless nephews. She despised her brother-in-law. Edith stalks around the grounds, blasting moles in the lawn with a shotgun.

Aristide's elder son, Philip, hated his father for passing him over as successor to the family business, and for refusing to fund production of a screenplay he wrote for his wife, Magda, a fading theatre actress. Philip and Magda provided Aristide with three grandchildren: Sophia, Eustace (a teenager affected by polio), and Josephine, a clever 12-year-old, who spies on everyone.

The younger son, Roger, is managing director of a major family business, but is a failure, requiring multiple bail-outs from Aristide. His domineering wife Clemency is a plant biologist with extensive knowledge of poisons.

Aristide's second wife, Brenda, is younger, a former casino dancer. The others suspect her of killing Aristide. She did administer the fatal insulin injection. She is having an affair with Laurence Brown, private tutor for the Leonides children. When Aristide's will is produced, it is unsigned; he therefore died intestate, and Brenda will inherit his entire estate.

Charles's inquiries meet with hostility from most of the family. Josephine hints that she has found clues she does not disclose, to Charles's irritation. Events take a new, horrific turn when the ladder to Josephine's treehouse is sabotaged and she falls, having to be hospitalised. Charles suspects that this was due to Josephine's habit of spying on the other family members.

Charles' suspicions even extend to Sophia after another, properly signed, will is discovered, leaving the estate to her. Aristide's son Eustace however suggests that Sophia hired Charles to investigate the murder due to their personal history, knowing he would never accuse her due to their romantic past.

Taverner arrives in person to take charge of the case; he feels Charles' history with Sophia compromises him. The discovery of love letters between Brenda and Laurence gives Taverner enough evidence to arrest them for Aristide's murder and the attempt on Josephine.

Charles, however, remains unconvinced that Brenda and Laurence are guilty, noting Brenda's childlike intelligence and Laurence's pacifist views as making them unlikely candidates for being murderers. Sophia notes that the letters could have been forged, and Edith insists on the best lawyer to represent Brenda and Laurence. Charles returns to the family estate after being in London when Josephine's nanny is fatally poisoned by hot chocolate which she had prepared for herself and Josephine.

Charles implores Josephine to name the killer, as he has worked out that she knows. Again, Josephine refuses to tell, even when Charles warns her that she is in danger. Edith collects Josephine, and drives out of the estate, lying to get past the police.

The coroner finds that the nanny died of cyanide poisoning. Charles suspects Edith, who used cyanide to kill moles. He searches Edith's garden shed, and finds a bottle of cyanide; also Josephine's missing notebook, buried in quicklime, which would have destroyed it. Charles and Sophia take off in pursuit of Edith, who left a note for Charles in his car. Sophia reads Edith's note: it is a confession to the murder, but Charles does not believe it.

Sophia then starts reading from Josephine's notebook, and discovers the truth: Josephine murdered Aristide. He had stopped her ballet lessons, and she was bored. Josephine also staged her fall from the treehouse, poisoned the nanny (who had begun to suspect her) and forged Brenda's love letters. Edith had worked out that Josephine was the killer and confessed to exonerate Brenda and Laurence, and perhaps to spare Josephine a life in psychiatric institutions. As Charles and Sophia catch up, Edith drives off the edge of a quarry, killing herself and Josephine.

Cast

Production

In 2011, US filmmaker Neil La Bute announced that he would be directing a feature film version, for 2012, of the novel with a script by Julian Fellowes.^[4] On 15 May 2011, Gemma Arterton, Matthew Goode, Gabriel Byrne and Dame Julie Andrews were announced to lead the cast.^[5] In a report issued on 10 June 2012, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions acquired all rights in the US, Canada and internationally for the film, which could help secure it a lucrative release, though the cast and creative team had changed.

Principal photography began in September 2016.^[6] Part of the filming was done at King's College London's Maughan Library.

Minley Manor near Fleet, Hampshire, was used as the location for the external shots of Three Gables (Crooked House). The interiors were shot at four different locations,^[7] including Hughenden Manor, West Wycombe House and Tyntesfield, near Bristol.^[8]

The production designer was Simon Bowles.^[7]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 58% of 31 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Agatha Christie fans may find enough intrigue to hold their attention while a capable cast gives their all, but there's no escaping the gaudy pitfalls of this Crooked House."^[10] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[11]

References

External links

• Crooked House at IMDb
• Crooked House at AllMovie