Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar

"Has Agatha met her match?"

2019 1h 35m EN

😐

5.8

MID

★5.8TMDB · 89

Crime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

On an archaeological dig in Iraq, author Agatha Christie uncovers a series of murders.

“Has Agatha met her match?”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Lyndsey Marshal
Agatha Christie
Jonah Hauer-King
Max Mallowan
Bronagh Waugh
Lucy
Rory Fleck-Byrne
Lord Ponsonby -- Marmaduke
Jack Deam
Leonard Woolley
Katherine Kingsley
Katharine Woolley
Crystal Clarke
Pearl
Stanley Townsend
Sir Constance

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Sam Yates
Writers: Tom Dalton
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 7 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Agatha Christie Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Directed by Sam Yates, shot by Catherine Goldschmidt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Oliver Coates. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Anna Dick shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Lyndsey Marshal and Jonah Hauer-King and Bronagh Waugh carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Has Agatha met her match?".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt10964992 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Sam Yates directs. Catherine Goldschmidt behind the camera. Oliver Coates scores. Anna Dick cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 7 years ago.
2Part of the "Agatha Christie Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Directed by Sam Yates, shot by Catherine Goldschmidt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Oliver Coates. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Anna Dick shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Lyndsey Marshal and Jonah Hauer-King and Bronagh Waugh carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Has Agatha met her match?".
8IMDB entry: tt10964992 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 89 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Catherine Goldschmidt
Original score: Oliver Coates
Editing: Anna Dick
Production design: Paul Booth
Makeup / hair: Jackie Grima
Stunt coordinator: Nikovich Sammut
Runtime: 95 min · 1h 35m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar (2019)

Part of

Agatha Christie Collection

Feature-length dramas of murder and mystery starring the queen of detective drama, Agatha Christie.

Also by

Sam Yates

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-04-02
★ 6/10
The only recently divorced Agatha Christie (Lyndsey Marshall) is travelling through Iraq looking for inspiration when she arrives at the archaeological dig of two of her friends that looks like it might be going to be subsumed into a gigantic oil field owned by the British government. Like moths to a flame, no sooner does she arrive than bodies start to accrue. Dead ones - and not preserved in bandages, neither. What’s occurring? Amongst the somewhat eclectic group on the site, she encounters the dashing young Max (Jonah Hauer-King) and after a bit of a rocky start, and with him realising that she quite likes him shirtless, the two begin to take a liking to each other whilst they investigate some creepy shenanigans amidst the ancient artefacts. There are no shortage of potential culprits seeking either recognition or great wealth, and those could reach high up onto the echelons of the Iraqi administration. Can they get to the bottom of the mystery and manage to find time for some fun, themselves? Well of that, there isn’t any doubt and indeed fans of Christie will know that she did actually meet her second husband, Max Mallowan, on a very similar trip. What we do get though is plenty of mysterious and quite well crafted duplicity, a little bit of amiable flirting but a story that I couldn’t help thinking might have worked better in black and white. Though there isn’t a great deal of chemistry between Marshall and JHK, both step up to deliver fine as the plot thickens and the red herrings arrive by the netfull. It’s a television movie, so it’s probably best not to expect too much, but as a ninety minute adventure to pass an afternoon you could do a lot worse.

Production companies