Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Winifred The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

merrywater This is a very good adaptation of one of Christie's novels about Hercule Poirot.The pace is great, and the village setting is quite believable. I've never been to an English village, but this is the image I receive of one when reading Christie.The plot is perhaps a little weak as for the motive, and the criminal. Sad Cypress is not one of her best novels. The title is apparently from Shakespeare.There are naturally some divergences from the original story: Mary Gerrard received only 2000 pounds, and not 7000. Elinor Clarlisle actually sold the estate after the death of her aunt.Special praise for the ingenious dream sequence where Poirot sees Mary Gerard's pretty face dissolve into that of an ugly corpse. It is actually one of the best, and scariest, of the kind that I've seen in a long time. I do, however, believe that this was not in the novel.

bob the moo The second episode of this ninth season of Poirot continues in the vein of the first episode. The framing is like that of a film more than a television episode, the tone is more serious, and the reoccurring supporting characters are not present (as they would be considered more televisual I guess). Similar to the previous episode, we open with a woman charged with murder before we then jump backwards in time to before it occurs. In this case Elinor Carlisle is the accused and we join her in the pre-court case days as she travels with her fiancé to see her wealthy aunt who is ill; they are motivated not only by concern, but also an anonymous note which says someone is trying to ingratiate themselves with the aunt and cut to the front of the inheritance queue. The couple take the advice of Dr Lord and engage Poirot to assist (he is bored with another case and agrees to look into it), but soon things go far beyond a threatening letter.With the pleasure of Five Little Pgs fresh in my mind, I did come to Sad Cypress with high expectations. On the face of it, all is well since we have a film with a similar approach and feel as the previous one, but unfortunately the same cannot be said of the film where it matters – which is in the script. Generally speaking it is well written and engaging, and it builds events and suspicions well, however I thought that the conclusion was a bit messier than usual, even if I did enjoy the final confrontation for doing something a bit different. Outside of Elinor, the characters themselves are not so interesting, and it did make me remember how well the previous episode had done this. Poirot seems inserted too early into proceedings, although he is always welcome, but is not always seeming at home.The production values remain high; the bigger scale of the series does appear to have also changed the set design and locations to be larger and more spacious in nature, but the period detail is still there and well captured. The film looks and sounds sharp too, with a good use of one special effect in a particularly memorable nightmare sequence. The cast are variable. Suchet maybe doesn't have the spark he has in other episodes, but is ever reliable and has some nice "Poirot" moments and lines, whether they be comedic or more reflective. Dermot Walsh is by far the best of the supporting cast, although McGann, Penry-Jones, Reilly and others all do decent work.Sad Cypress continues to high standards of the series, however it is unfortunate that it follows the much better Five Little Pigs, because by contrast it is less effective at building the mystery, developing characters, and revealing who and how it was all done – all of which are pretty fundamental. It still engages on a level that I was happy with, but it didn't match the standard of the season opener.

blanche-2 "Sad Cypress" is an absorbing Poirot mystery, and features some familiar names to those of us who love British mysteries.The story begins at the trial of Elinor Carlisle (Elisabeth Dermot Walsh) at which Poirot is present. She has been accused of murdering her rival, Mary Gerrard (Kelly Reilly). Her aunt's doctor (Paul McGann) insists to Poirot that Elinor could not have done it and begs Poirot for help. He goes to the house to investigate, but finds himself at a disadvantage. Everyone seems to be lying to him, including the doctor.Elinor, Mary, and Elinor's fiancée, Roddy (Rupert Penry-Jones) were all childhood friends. Elinor receives an anonymous letter indicating that her expected inheritance from her aunt (Diana Quick) is in danger thanks to an interloper. She and Roddy go to visit their aunt and find that Mary has returned after being away from some time. The aunt is very ill and being attended to by a nurse and Mary.After being at the house for several days, it becomes apparent to Elinor that Roddy and Mary are not only attracted to one another but acting on it. Elinor breaks off the engagement. While at the house, Elinor's aunt dies, and Elinor, knowing had she not died, her aunt wanted Mary to have some money, gives her some money from the estate.Later, she has a luncheon for Mary and the nurse (Phyllis Logan). Mary is found dead of poisoning later on. When her aunt's body is exhumed at Poirot's insistence, it turns out she was also poisoned. Elinor is accused and put on trial. She admits to wanting Mary dead.I thought Rupert Penry-Jones looked familiar, but his hair is very blond in this so I didn't realize he was Carter on MI-5 and the star of so many other British shows. Phyllis Logan was a mainstay on Lovejoy. Beautiful Kelly Reilly had her own series for a time, Above Suspicion, and has also had a recurring role on True Detective and the series Black Box.Very absorbing, with the usual high production values. There were comments of Suchet slowing down as Poirot. Perhaps - in this program, he appears less than usual, but he is excellent. I do miss Japp, Hastings, and Miss Lemon, and I frankly don't understand why they weren't used in later episodes.The plot is a little contrived, but watch and enjoy.

TheLittleSongbird Sad Cypress is one of my favourite Poirot episodes, along with Five Little Pigs and Peril At End House everything about this adaptation was stunning. I do admit I did cry two or three times. It is faithful to the book, apart from a slight misjudgement about the rose. The plot is quite a complex one, but it is very well constructed here. The look of Sad Cypress was absolutely exquisite- you can never go wrong with dazzling photography, splendid scenery and lovely costumes- this adaptation had all three of those things. The music was gorgeous, haunting yet tragic, and I think it was this that reduced me to tears. The script is very good, beautifully written, and does have a hint of faithfulness about it. The acting was exceptional, although he looked tired, David Suchet turned in an impeccable performance as Poirot. I do consider Suchet the definitive of the Poirots, like Jeremy Brett was the definitive Sherlock Holmes. Elizabeth Dermott Walsh was beautiful beyond words as Elinor Carlisle, just perfect for the role, and Rupert Penry Jones perfectly conveys his flawed character. Diana Quick and Phyllis Logan are fine actresses, and they were superb in their roles. The final solution was very well done, not quite as good in construction as the one in the book, but still effective. I have to say when I first saw this adaptation, I was extremely disturbed by Poirot's dream of Mary Gerrard and her decompsing face. All in all, highly recommended. 9/10 Bethany Cox