If Agatha Christie were still alive and writing, she may have produced something like this modern mystery, although my guess is that her version would have been more intricate and tricky to decipher.  This Netflix project certainly calls to mind Death on the Nile and other such cloistered mysteries (Flight Plan, perhaps), with solid production values and a good cast.  Yet it still falls short of what it could have, and should have, been.

Simon Stone’s luxury-bound mystery finds journalist Laura Blacklock (Keira Knightley) invited to attend a floating fundraising trip to Norway.  Laura is naturally uncomfortable around the rich and powerful, especially when she finds an ex-boyfriend Ben (David Ajala) on board.  Laura witnesses what she thinks is a murder, with someone thrown overboard, but a search finds no one and everyone on board remains present.  Laura’s insistence offends almost everyone, especially as there is no proof that anything untoward actually occurred.  When her own life is threatened, Laura has to choose whether to stop pushing for answers or disappear.

The film does a fine job delineating Laura’s background, discomfort with the hoi polloi and tenaciousness at sniffing out the real story.  Suspense builds at a nice deliberate pace to an unexpected climax.  But in between, there are some issues.  The central crime and the motivation for it are clear almost from the beginning; the mystery lies in how is the crime perpetrated.  Then there’s a twist, and that twist explains everything.  I admit that I was fooled by the twist, but I still knew the identity of the perpetrator, someone who pays heavily for their crime at the conclusion.  The intrigue of the premise and its handling is certainly worth watching.

Yet there are other issues.  Do these famous people not lock their room doors on the yacht?  The entire mystery hinges on Laura’s inadvertent entry into Cabin 10, which to my mind should never have occurred.  Laura is a seasoned journalist but as the mystery deepens she reacts like a teenager in a horror movie, committing mistake after mistake and unable to play it cool as the situation demands.  Even the conclusion itself, as dramatic as it is, feels truncated and unconvincing.  I think Agatha Christie would have provided a protagonist more clever and resourceful, a resolution more realistic and clean cut, and probably would have done so with more style than this well-meaning imitation provides.  ☆ ☆ 1/2.  15 March 2026.