Dr. Leslie Ferrier is a character featured in the 2023 film A Haunting in Venice, based on the 1969 novel "Hallowe'en Party" by Agatha Christie. He is portrayed by Irish actor Jamie Dornan.
Character description[]
Dr. Leslie Ferrier is a physician and a friend of Rowena Drake, a former opera singer who owns a palazzo in Venice. He attends a Halloween party and a séance at her palazzo, along with his son Leopold, who suffers from schizophrenia and claims to hear voices of the dead orphans who died in the palazzo during the plague. Dr. Ferrier is also the family doctor of Alicia Drake, Rowena's daughter, who allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the balcony a year ago.
Dr. Ferrier is a calm and rational man, who tries to protect his son from the supernatural events that occur in the palazzo. He is skeptical of the medium Joyce Reynolds, who claims to communicate with Alicia's spirit and reveals that she was murdered by one of the guests. He is also suspicious of Maxime Gerard, Alicia's ex-fiancé, who broke up with her shortly before her death.
Role in the film[]
Dr. Ferrier is one of the suspects in the murder of Joyce Reynolds, who is found impaled on a statue in the courtyard after the séance. He is interrogated by Hercule Poirot, a retired detective who also attends the party and decides to investigate the case. Dr. Ferrier admits that he was in love with Alicia and tried to convince her to leave Maxime, who he believed was abusive and unfaithful. He also confesses that he gave Alicia a sedative on the night of her death, hoping to calm her down and prevent her from harming herself.
However, Poirot discovers that Dr. Ferrier is not the killer, but rather a victim of a complex plot orchestrated by Rowena Drake, who murdered both Alicia and Joyce Reynolds, as well as several other people connected to her daughter's death. Rowena reveals that she blamed Alicia for ruining her career as an opera singer, as she had to give up her fame and fortune to raise her as a single mother. She also resented Alicia for choosing Maxime over her, and for being more talented and beautiful than her. Rowena staged Alicia's suicide by pushing her off the balcony, then hired Joyce Reynolds to fake a séance and accuse Maxime of the crime, intending to kill him afterward. However, when Joyce Reynolds realizes that Rowena is the real murderer, she tries to expose her during the séance but is killed by Rowena before she can do so.
Rowena also manipulated Leopold into believing that he was hearing voices of the dead orphans, by using hidden speakers and recordings in the palazzo. She planned to use him as a scapegoat for the murders, by making him appear insane and violent. She also poisoned Dr. Ferrier with arsenic, intending to kill him slowly and painfully. Poirot manages to stop Rowena from killing Maxime and Leopold and confronts her with the evidence of her crimes. Rowena admits everything and tries to stab Poirot with a knife, but he shoots her in self-defense.
Trivia[]
- In the original book, Lesley Ferrier is already dead before the novel started. His death is listed among a string of other deaths that are closely tied to Woodleigh Common.
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