Agatha Christie is one of the best-known crime novelists ever. She published over 125 written works between 1924 and her death in 1976, including 74 novels. Her works have sold more than two billion copies, and she is the second best-selling fiction author ever, second only to William Shakespeare. Christie’s stories are ripe for adaptation; the first film adaptation came in 1928 with the first non-English language adaptation coming a year later. Foreign filmmakers have taken a particular liking to Christie’s work. Of the more than 30 film adaptations, 14 are non-English adaptations. The best adaptations of her work are wide-ranging and are made in many different countries.
Even today, Christie’s mystery novels continue to be popular among readers all over the world. They are still being adapted into television series and movies whether they’re stand-alone stories or part of the mysteries solved by Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. While miniseries and special presentations on television tend to be more common than movies (even Doctor Who has featured stories inspired by the writer), new movies continue to release as well, like the 2022 adaptation of Death On The Nile. The best Agatha Christie movies, however, appeal to fans of the novels as much as they do those who have never read her works.
20 Honorable Mentions: Alibi (1931) And Black Coffee (1931)
Alibi and Black Coffee are the first Christie adaptations from Twickenham Studios. Alibi stars Austin Trevor as Hercule Poirot and is considered a lost film. Even if it is a lost film, it’s still notable for being the first Christie adaptation to feature Hercule Poirot. It’s based on the 1928 play of the same name, which itself was based on Christie’s 1926 novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Alibi features a character named Caryll Sheppard, who became the inspiration for Miss Marple, Christie’s other great detective character.
Black Coffee stars Austin Trevor as Hercule Poirot and is based on the 1929 stage play of the same name. Christie wrote the play in response to the film adaptations made up to that point. In the story, Poirot and a friend, Arthur Hastings, visit a physicist only to discover his body. The plot revolves around a secret formula the physicist was working on and the motives each previous visitor had for murdering him. No known copies exist of either movie, but both earned rave reviews from fans when released.
19 Ten Little Indians (1965)
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Available to stream through Direct TV
Ten Little Indians is based on Agatha Christie’s novel And Then There Were None, but this movie is set in a mansion in the snowy Alps as ten people are invited to a remote location by a mysterious host. The host doesn’t appear and instead leaves a message claiming that each person is responsible for the death of another and will be killed during their stay at the mansion. The message comes to fruition as guests keep turning up dead in the mansion and the remaining survivors have to figure out who the mysterious killer is before they reach the same fate. This story is one of the most frequently adapted Christie novels and has even provided the inspiration for a lot of horror movies that center on isolation as victims are picked off. While this is one of the best adaptations of And The There Were None, it’s not the absolute best.
18 Seven Dials Mystery (1981)
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Available to stream on Brit Box
Seven Dials Mystery is based on the Christie novel of the same name and again follows a mystery after a murder, although this novel seemed to be a different style than most of her earlier work. The movie follows Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent who investigates the murder of Gerry Wade she knew as the mystery continues to escalate. Bundle uncovers a larger conspiracy as another man is killed, and she learns of the existence of a secret society that is involved in both murders. One of several Agatha Christie adaptations for London Weekend Television, the TV movie worked so well for longtime fans because it rarely deviated from the source material.
17 Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? (1980)
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Available to stream on Brit Box
Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? is a detective novel by Agatha Christie and the 1980 TV movie is based on the book of the same name. The movie follows Bobby Jones as he investigates the murder of a man he comes across while golfing whose last words are, “Why didn’t they ask Evans?” Jones starts to do a deep dive into the man’s life and tries to uncover the mystery of his fatal wounds on the golf course that day. This is actually the first major Christie adaptation for television because, during her lifetime, the author disliked TV. Following her death in 1976, her estate allowed the broadcast rights for her stories to be sold, and Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? became hugely popular. It’s the reason there are so many TV adaptations today.
16 Death On The Nile (2022)
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Available to stream on HBO Max and Hulu
Kenneth Branagh returns as Poirot in this sequel to Murder On The Orient Express. Here, he’s just trying to take a vacation, but of course, his time of relaxation is interrupted by murder. Like its predecessor, Death On The Nile is full of twists, turns, and dramatic accusations. It’s also got a more lush backdrop and a bigger budget for costumes to reflect the opulence of the trip. Visually, the movie is stunning, and a cast featuring Gal Gadot, Letitia Wright, and Rose Leslie certainly makes it as star-studded as the previous one.
15 Murder On The Orient Express (2017)
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Available to stream through Direct TV
Murder On The Orient Express is one of the most often adapted (or alluded to) of Christie’s work. It’s been radio shows, TV specials, movies, video games, and even inspired other episodes of television in homage. Despite many fans of Christie knowing the ending since it was originally published in 1934, the audience is still captivated by all the twists and turns as literally everyone Poirot comes into contact with is a suspect. Kenneth Branagh as Poirot in this version of the story is incredibly fun to watch, and the huge cast of stars (Penelope Cruz, Daisy Ridley, Leslie Odom Jr., among others) lend gravitas to their roles.
14 Gumnaam (1965)
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Available to rent on Amazon
Indian adaptations of Agatha Christie’s works are incredibly popular. Gumnaam is only the second Indian adaptation and the first in Hindi. The story adapts Christie’s And Then There Were None. In this version, several characters win a trip, but that win actually sets them all up to be stalked and systematically murdered one by one. The surviving characters try to hunt down the killer, just as the characters in the novel, and eventually, discover their connections to one another after most of them have already been killed. While the movie might not feature as many characters as the original novel, the themes and suspense remain the same for the viewer.
13 Endless Night (1972)
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Available to stream on Hoopla and Kanopy
Endless Night adapts one of the last novels Christie wrote before her death in 1976. It follows the story of a young man who meets a wealthy heiress and the two fall for one another quickly, making their dream of a small-town estate come true. What follows as they achieve their dream is a murder in the small town. In true Christie fashion, there’s a big twist for the viewer. While this wasn’t considered one of the best Agatha Christie movies upon its release as the movie divided critics, it’s very true to the source material and features the charming Hayley Mills as the heiress, Ellie.
12 Crooked House (2017)
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Available to stream on Freevee
Christie is known for her twists and turns in her novels, and Crooked House is the epitome of that. It’s been adapted several times, but the 2017 adaptation features a star-studded cast in Glen Close, Gillian Anderson, Christina Hendricks, and Max Irons. Irons plays the detective, a former diplomat who returns to England when an old flame employs him to investigate a murder in her family. Of course, she hires someone she has a history with because she wants to make sure Scotland Yard isn’t able to expose her family’s secrets to the public. The story is as much a family drama as it is a mystery, which is what makes it so appealing to fans.
11 Murder Most Foul (1964)
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Available to stream on Brit Box
Margaret Rutherford stars as Miss Marple in this black-and-white murder mystery based on the Christie novel of the same name. Miss Marple believes that a man about to be convicted of murder is actually innocent, so she looks into the case herself to prove his innocence and find the real killer. Miss Marple’s investigation leads her to join a theater group where yet another actor is found dead after she starts her investigation. The closer she gets to the killer the more danger she finds herself in as she uncovers the secrets of the characters’ past. It’s a pretty standard Christie adaptation, but Rutherford truly embodied Miss Marple, and for years, would be who fans thought of as the character.
10 Murder At The Gallop (1963)
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Available to stream on Brit Box
Murder at the Gallop adapts Christie’s 1952 novel After the Funeral. Funeral is a suspense novel with Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, but Gallop is a light comedy with Dame Margaret Rutherford’s amateur detective Miss Marple. Gallop is also a sequel to Murder, She Said, Rutherford’s first outing as Marple. The story begins with the death of a wealthy recluse. His sister states her belief that he was murdered before being found dead herself. Marple investigates while at a riding school operated by the surviving heirs. The killer’s motive is revealed to be something that may not have required the recluse’s death at all. Rutherford’s Marple would appear in five different Christie adaptations, and her portrayal of the character informed the performances of many actors who took on the role after her.
9 Evil Under the Sun (1982)
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Available to stream on Brit Box
Evil Under the Sun is a Hercule Poirot story based on the Christie novel of the same name starring a great cast including Peter Ustinov as Poirot and the legendary Dame Maggie Smith as Mrs. Castle, the owner of the hotel. The movie follows Poirot as he tries to solve the case of the mysterious death of an unpopular actor. The movie takes place at a resort hotel as Poirot does his detective work by interviewing everyone at the resort and trying to solve the mystery. The truly great part of this Agatha Christie movie, like so many others, is the impressive cast bringing life to the roles.
8 Murder, She Said (1961)
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Available to stream on Brit Box
Murder, She Said is Dame Margaret Rutherford’s first appearance as Miss Marple. Marple sees a woman strangled on a train. She embarks on her investigation after the police rebuff her due to a lack of evidence. Her investigation involves getting a job at the estate where she believes the woman’s body is and interviewing the various suspects inside the house. The police come around to her investigation when she finds the woman’s body in a horse stable. Fans clearly loved Rutherford in the role, and it’s easy to see why.
7 And Then There Were None (1945)
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Available to stream on Kanopy
This 1945 film is the first of several adaptations of Christie’s best-selling novel. The story focuses on ten people who have traveled to a hotel in the Iranian desert and are accused of murder. None of the actions the ten are accused of are legally defined as murder, and so they cannot legally be held accountable for the deaths. The ten also find a framed copy of “Ten Little Indians” in each of their bedrooms and a sculpture of 10 people in a circle in the dining room. Things escalate when one of them dies and a figurine disappears. The Agatha Christie film is currently in the public domain.
6 The Mirror Crack’d (1980)
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Available to stream on Brit Box
One of Christie’s Miss Marple mysteries, The Mirror Crack’d is stacked with talent. Murder, She Wrote’s Angela Lansbury stars as Miss Marple and Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Liz Taylor, and Kim Novak make up the rest of the main cast. The story follows a production crew when they come to Miss Marple’s small hometown to shoot a movie and a fan ends up poisoned. Taylor and Novak play the rival actresses at the center of the mystery, and their antagonistic relationship adds some levity to the mystery. As a bonus, Pierce Brosnan fans will see that this is actually his onscreen debut as he plays an actor in a small role.
5 Shubho Mahurat (2003)
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Available to stream on Hoichoi
Shubho Mahurat is a Bengali-language adaptation of Christie’s 1962 novel The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side. In Mahurat, the main character is a film producer newly arrived in India. When an actress she casts dies, the suspicion initially falls on that actress’s husband who is accused of an affair with another woman. Miss Marple (who is not the main character) is the aunt of a journalist who becomes heavily tied into the film’s production. It’s very different from the 1980 adaptation, but both movies offer some of the best drama in Agatha Christie’s adaptations.
4 Desyat Negrityat (1987)
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Available to rent on Amazon
This Soviet adaptation of And Then There Were None is notable among None adaptations because of its adherence to the novel. Negrityat makes few changes in the transition from script to screen, unlike many English-language adaptations which will change everything from the isolated location to the number of guests that end up dead. This includes using the novel’s ending rather than that of the stage play. In the stage play (and therefore most film adaptations), at least two characters are innocent of the crimes of which they are accused, making for a very different change from the usual adaptations of the source material.
3 Witness For The Prosecution (1957)
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Available to stream on Kanopy
Billy Wilder directed this adaptation of Christie’s short story of the same name. It starred Tyrone Power in his final film role as Leonard Vole, accused of murdering a widow who had made him the sole beneficiary of her will. Charles Laughton plays a lawyer who believes Vole is innocent despite circumstantial evidence pointing toward his guilt. The film also stars Marlene Dietrich as Power’s wife. Witness received six Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Director, Actor for Charles Laughton, Supporting Actress for Elsa Lanchester, Film Editing, and Sound Recording. It’s one of the most lauded Agatha Christie adaptations.
2 Death on the Nile (1978)
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Available to stream on Tubi and Roku
Death on the Nile is Peter Ustinov’s first outing as Hercule Poirot. The Agatha Christie film takes place mostly on a paddle steamer traveling down the Nile River. The boat’s itinerary, which includes several famous Egyptian landmarks, is physically impossible. The film begins with a honeymooner being killed with her husband and his ex-lover still on the boat. The ex-lover is there despite Poirot’s objections and warnings. Other passengers have their reasons for murdering the victim, but the walls begin to close in on both Poirot and the killer as they too start to die. Though there have been other versions of this Agatha Christie novel adapted for the screen, this one is the most beloved.
1 Murder On The Orient Express (1974)
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Available to stream on Fubo and Kanopy
Albert Finney is the only Poirot to receive an Academy Award nomination, garnering praise for his acting in 1974’s Murder on the Orient Express. The ensemble is filled out with an all-star cast, with Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery, Lauren Bacall, and Vanessa Redgrave all appearing in the film. The film received six Academy Award nominations, Actor for Finney, Supporting Actress for Bergman, Adapted Screenplay, Score, Cinematography, and Costume Design. Bergman won Supporting Actress for playing the role of Greta Ohlsson. Agatha Christie was quoted as saying the film was “well made,” but for one mistake: Finney’s tiny mustache.