“Coup de théâtre” does not just pay homage to Agatha Christie with a plot that would have had its place in one of her novels: the famous writer appears in the film, and you may have already seen her interpreter.
Like Knives Out , Murder on the Orient-Express or Death on the Nile before it, Coup de théâtre contributes to the revival of whodunit on the big screen. But he does more than appropriate this sub-genre of the detective story of which Agatha Christie is still the queen today: he involves her in his plot, where two investigators played by Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan must unmask the culprit . of the murder of a Hollywood director.
The feature film takes place in the London of 1953. And more precisely behind the scenes of “The Mousetrap” , a play by Agatha Christie launched a year earlier… and which is still played in the West End, improving, a little more each day, his longevity record. We are still far from it when Coup de theater begins and, for a long time, the shadow of the novelist hovers over the plot......
We then say to ourselves that the film will not go further than this amusing mise en abyme. Until the last act, where Agatha Christie arrives for good. First from the back, then from the front, as the outcome is played out in his home. Because, without revealing too much, the motives of the culprit are linked to the writing of “La Souricière” . And if the writer’s interpreter seems familiar to you, that’s normal: you’ve probably already seen her. In The Diary of Bridget Jones . Season 2 of Doctor Who . Anna Karenina . Or, and above all, the Harry Potter saga.
Agatha Christie is indeed embodied by Shirley Henderson , who is none other than the interpreter of the ghost Mimi Geignarde in The Chamber of Secrets and The Goblet of Fire . Also seen in T2 Trainspotting or Okja , and heard in Star Wars – Episode IX , where she lent her voice to Babu Frik, the English actress had already evolved in the universe of her compatriot, since she held a role in the mini -series from ABC contre Poirot , broadcast on the BCC in 2018. Did the producers of Coup de théâtre have a click?