The 2017 film Crooked House is based on Agatha Christie’s 1949 novel of the same name and is directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner. The film stars Max Irons as Charles Hayward, Terence Stamp as Chief Inspector Taverner, Stefanie Martini as Sophia Leonides and Glenn Close as Lady Edith de Haviland.
The film begins with a sequence showing Brenda Leonides, the second wife of Aristide Leonides, a wealthy Greek emigrant living in England injecting him with something. Aristide Leonides is found dead the next morning and is suspected of being poisoned. Aristide’s granddaughter Sophia approaches her ex-boyfriend Charles Hayward who is a private detective and asks him to investigate her grandfather’s murder. Hayward is reluctant to investigate the case because Sophia deceived him by concealing her true identity as Aristide Leonides’s granddaughter and then broke up with him. Hayward consults his father’s friend Chief Inspector Taverner of Scotland Yard to get advice regarding this case.
Hayward decides to investigate the case and drives down to the Leonides’ country house. The Leonides’ are a dysfunctional family and there is animosity among family members, and most of them suspect Brenda of murdering her husband Aristide because she was having an extramarital affair with Laurence Brown, the childrens’ resident tutor, but a few family members think that Brenda could have been set up. Hayward begins by interrogating all the family members in order to get a sense of whom he is dealing with. But unfortunately Hayward lacks the intelligence required to solve a complex murder mystery and struggles with the case. If Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot were assigned to this case they would have identified the murderer.
It is significant that Agatha Christie does not feature Hercule Poirot in this murder mystery because he would have easily identified the murderer. Christie portrays Hayward as unintelligent and deliberately presents the characters of the Leonides family members as ambiguous to Hayward who finds it difficult to identify the murderer. Sophia is very discreet and burns Aristide’s memoirs which could have provided a clue about his murderer.
Chief Inspector Travenor takes over the case because Hayward’s past involvement with Sophia could compromise the investigation. Sophia is a very clever young woman who is manipulative and ruthless and she lures the foolish Hayward by casting a hypnotic spell over him. Hayward finds Sophia irresistible even though he knows that she plays tricks on people and toys with them, like her grandfather. The end of the film is intriguing and although a murderer seems to be identified, Christie deliberately leaves many unanswered questions about Aristide Leonides and his dealings and his family’s secrets.