Teresa Reviews Darkes Forest Blues (2023)

Teresa reviews Darkes Forest Blues (2023), a short movie from Australia based on a scene from Murder on the Orient Express

(c)2024 by Teresa Peschel

Source: YouTube “Darkes Forest Blues”

Fidelity to text: 2 guns

The story’s central conceit, albeit gender-swapped, remains. Amazing for an 8-minute student film.

Quality of film: 2 guns

The second three minutes of film had nothing to do with the first five!

Read more of Teresa’s Agatha Christie movie reviews at Peschel Press.

Also, follow Teresa’s discussion of these movie on her podcast.

For an eight-minute film, where only four minutes count, you’ll get the heart of Murder on the Orient Express. That is, the local sheriff named Ratchett asks well-known bounty hunter, Poirot, for protection against unspoken enemies. Poirot, to Ratchett’s surprise, refuses. Also, to Ratchett’s surprise, this Poirot is female.

Poirot doesn’t need the money. Nor does this Poirot take on any cases she doesn’t like. And she doesn’t like Ratchett’s face.

Why does Ratchett need protection? An unknown enemy, which Poirot scoffs at.

A wanted poster provides a clue: Daisy Armstrong was kidnapped by the notorious murderer, Cassetti.

Poirot reveals she knows Ratchett is Cassetti. In the ensuing, lantern lit discussion, Rachett is shot.

That’s not the end of this short film, though. After a fade to black, we see three other women — Linda, Mary, and Helena — argue about a horse and about their weaponry.

There’s a lot packed into eight minutes but it was poorly integrated. Who are Linda, Mary, and Helena? Why do they think the horse cares? What’s their connection to Poirot, Ratchett, or Daisy Armstrong? You won’t learn.

You’ll also wonder why the women are all in their twenties and extremely well-groomed (painted fingernails and great hair!) in what’s supposed to be the 1870’s frontier somewhere. Australia, I guess, based on where the film was made. Their immaculate maquillage added to the air of unreality.

This curiosity is the seventh version of Orient Express. I could see it being expanded as the setting and Ratchett’s position as the local sheriff (if that’s true) add a new layer of interest. But unless the town is all female, I’d expect at least one male in the outback because that’s how frontier societies usually work.

Darkes Forest Blues is easy to find on YouTube, so why not watch it? It’s a unique take on Orient Express and only eight minutes long!