By

Crooked House

Twisted

In this intricately plotted Agatha Christie tale, a private investigator and former spy is asked by an ex-lover to find her insanely wealthy grandfather’s killer. At the suitably creepy family estate he finds among the feuding family members deceit, jealousy, bitterness and resentment in a poisonous atmosphere. But, in true Christie fashion, while everyone had a motive, there’s no clear culprit. Max Irons plays the gumshoe, heading up a great cast that includes Stefanie Martini, Glenn Close, Terence Stamp, Honor Kneafsey, Christina Hendricks, Gillian Anderson and Julian Sands. The film moves at an unapologetically glacial pace, and it may be a bit tame for some. But keep in mind that Christie wrote murder mysteries, not thrillers. She characteristically gave her readers all the facts and challenged them to use their intellect and ratiocination to and identify her killers. See if you can. (115 min)