Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
In 1935, when his train is stopped by deep snow, detective Hercule Poirot is called on to solve a murder that occurred in his car the night before.
Sidney Lumet's adaptation of Agatha Christie's classic is a masterclass in ensemble mystery filmmaking. The plot is meticulous and deeply satisfying, faithfully rendered from Christie's ingenious source material. The acting is the film's crown jewel — an extraordinary all-star cast including Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery, and Vanessa Redgrave all delivering memorable, layered performances. The cinematography is competent and atmospheric but largely functional, serving the claustrophobic train setting without transcending it. Novelty is moderate — it's a prestige adaptation of a beloved novel, executed with distinction but not reinventing the form. The ending is one of cinema's great revelation sequences, with Poirot's meticulous unmasking of the truth delivered with theatrical brilliance.