I’ll be the first to admit that when it comes to the list of films that were on my radar this month, Murder on the Orient Express wasn’t near the top. I knew about the upcoming adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel. I didn’t, however, know as much about it as I did other films opening this month, say, Thor: Ragnarok, for example (brief pause to fangirl: Thor was so good. It’s a must see.)

In my defense, the film was also severely under previewed. It didn’t get the attention it deserved. I only say so because, oh boy, did I enjoy this thrill ride from director Kenneth Branagh. Branagh, who played Commander Bolton in this year’s earlier hit Dunkirk, also happens to be the main character, renowned detective Hercule Poirot. The Frenchman intrigued me greatly, from his perfect mustache to his accent. I adore picking apart the fake accents actors are forced to use, but I honestly believed that Branagh was French from his little toe to his grey hair. Job well done to you, sir. I digress.

When trying to take a nice, calm vacation, a murder on the luxury locomotive stops Poirot’s peace and quiet dead in its tracks. (Insert suspense theme music here).

I love movies like Sherlock Holmes and Split that keep you on the edge of your seat, guessing wrong and guessing again, only to be proven wrong once more. You guys know how I despise predictability. I’m happy to report that every single guess I made while watching was wrong, and every single twist surprised me. Ah, that’s such a satisfying thing, what with the fill-in-the-main-character-blank film industry of today. It helps that I have never read Christie’s novel, so I didn’t already know the ending.

Along the journey, we meet 12 murder suspects. Some, like Penélope Cruz’s missionary Pilar Estravados (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) and Miss Mary Debenham (Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Daisy Ridley) seem like they couldn’t hurt a fly. Others, like Gerhard Hardman (Willem Dafoe, the Green Goblin/Norman Osborn in Spider-Man) and Count Rudolph Andrenyi (Sergei Polunin, the Wolf in Peter and the Wolf) seem questionable, at best. Maybe that’s just because I can’t not see the Green Goblin in Dafoe, but Polunin…can’t give it away…you’ll see. Of course, now would be the time to call in the old cliche about judging books (a terrible practice, really). I could, but you know it, so I’ll spare you.

Do, however, remember this–when the lights go down, and you’ve got your popcorn, your cherry Coke, and your pickle, a murder mystery is never ever ever what it seems. You can only be sure that the answer you’re given is the true answer to the whodunit when the credits roll–and maybe not even then. Happy viewing! It’s a five-star movie!