'Crooked House' trailer: Murder is a family affair in twisted Agatha Christie mystery (exclusive)

by Gwynne Watkins

October 3rd, 2017

Yahoo Entertainment

From Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and the godmother of the detective mystery, Agatha Christie, comes a tale of deceit, murder, and of course, family. In Crooked House, an aristocratic young woman in 1950s England (Stefanie Martini) hires her ex-lover, a private investigator (Max Irons), to solve the mystery of her grandfather’s gruesome death. It soon becomes apparent that the suspect list encompasses all three generations of the family, including characters played by Glenn Close, Julian Sands, Christina Hendricks, and Gillian Anderson. “Murderers tend to feel that they are above the rules that govern ordinary mortals,” the detective explains over dinner at the family estate. “That description fits every member of this family,” Close responds with a wry laugh. Watch the exclusive trailer above.

Written by Fellowes and directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner, Crooked House is the first screen adaptation of Christie’s 1949 novel (one of the very few Christie works that hadn’t already been adapted for film or television). Coincidentally, the film will open just a few weeks after another big-screen Christie adaptation, Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express.

Crooked House arrives on VOD Nov. 21 and opens in theaters Dec. 22.