Why ‘The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd’ May Be Branagh’s Toughest Poirot Film Yet
By Nina Sterle
Kenneth Branagh has successfully adapted three different Agatha Christie books to movies, and rumor has it he might be tackling the most challenging one yet for his next adaptation. There’s been no confirmation as to whether Branagh will be continuing his Poirot series, but fans have been hopefully speculating that The Murder of Roger Ackroyd may be Branagh’s next pick.
The reason why this rumor has been circulating is twofold. After the third Branagh adaptation was released, the movie’s producer stated that Branagh may be continuing the series in the future. Additionally, it’s well known that The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is one of Branagh’s favorite Agatha Christie novels, which means it’s likely fodder for another adaptation.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd already has one TV adaptation from the year 2000, following David Suchet’s Poirot. A longer blockbuster movie is, thus far, unheard of for the book, however.
Additionally, the U.S. rights to The Murder of Roger Ackroyd only recently became public in 2021, which indicates another possible reason that Branagh hasn’t yet attempted to adapt the well-known novel.
However, adapting The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is not without its challenges. For one thing, the book is intended to be from the perspective of a specific character — Dr. Sheppard, a small-town doctor in a village that Poirot retires to at the beginning of the book. While both doctor and detective originally plan to continue their quiet lives in the village, those plans are quickly foiled when the two are drawn into a unique murder mystery involving the death of Dr. Sheppard’s friend, Roger Ackroyd.
The novel taking place from Dr. Sheppard’s perspective — and his alone — is essential. Unlike other mysteries that take place from a third-person perspective (or from Captain Hastings’ perspective), Dr. Sheppard’s narration is key to the plot. Adapting this to movie style is possible — the film would need to simply follow Dr. Sheppard the entire time, leaving no room to wander off with other characters — but doesn’t leave quite as much room for exploration as some other films, especially when Poirot is doing his own work offscreen.
Major spoilers ahead for anyone who has not yet read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
The most difficult part of this adaptation is undoubtedly its twist ending. Any Agatha Christie fan remembers the moment they discovered that trustworthy narrator Dr. Sheppard himself was the real killer — it’s what made The Murder of Roger Ackroyd so famous in the first place.
But developing that sense of reader-narrator trust within a movie that doesn’t actually have any narration can be difficult. Readers rely on Dr. Sheppard naturally, never suspecting him because he is the narrator, and up until that point, readers have been shown by Agatha Christie that they can always trust the narrator no matter what.
A movie doesn’t necessarily have that same perspective. When shown in the third person, viewers are likely to suspect even the main character, since they don’t have access to that person’s inner thoughts. This leaves room for the twist to become a little more obvious, taking away from the wonder and shock of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’s ending.
Branagh could easily play this film other ways, focusing more on playing up the genuine relationship between Dr. Sheppard and Poirot — who, at the beginning of the book, never suspects Dr. Sheppard of being the killer. Because Dr. Sheppard is taken in as Poirot’s sidekick and confidant, Branagh could use this relationship to help Dr. Sheppard gain the trust of the viewer even without directly narrating the film. But slipping in the small red herrings that Agatha Christie uses to indicate Dr. Sheppard even in the beginning of the film could prove difficult.
Whether Branagh will attempt The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is yet to be seen, but there’s no doubt that fans of the series are hoping for its continuation to be confirmed very soon.
