I recall watching Murder on the Orient Express which starred and was directed by Kenneth Branagh years ago. It was based on the Hercule Poirot books by Agatha Christie. This is obviously a sequel to it and it showed up on HBO Max recently.

The story is focused around Jacqueline de Bellefort and Linnet Ridgeway. Both ladies grew up in the upper class, with Linnet Ridgeway becoming the most famous of the two. Jacqueline asks her to give her fiance a new job as a wedding present.

But instead, Linnet steals her fiance and marries him about 6 weeks later. The newlywed couple seem to be madly in love, but there is something disturbing going on. Jacqueline has been stalking them and legally making herself a pest at every opportunity.

During the honeymoon, they enlist the help of Hercule Poirot. The famous detective is hesitant to take up any case, and politely refuses them because Jacqueline has committed no crime. Before he realizes it, there’s an unexpected murder. And Jacqueline has a concrete alibi.

Hercule Poirot will soon learn that the whole party that showed up for the honeymoon in Egypt has a motive. Everyone seems equally guilty, and it may be a little more than tricky to figure out this mystery.

I was hoping that the movie was better than Murder on the Orient Express and it actually was. The book that it is based on is almost a century old, but it’s still a pretty good murder mystery. My wife and I actually figured out who the real killer was early on, but the twists in the story did make us doubt our hypothesis sometimes.