More than a narration—an immersive haunting.

Overall Rating: 5 Stars | Performance: 5 Stars | Story: 5 Stars

This is exactly how Heart of Darkness should be experienced. Kenneth Branagh understands perfectly that Heart of Darkness is structured as a story being retold to companions. He doesn’t sound like a narrator, he isn't “reading” the book aloud; he sounds like a man retelling a dark, personal history; he tells the story in a way that feels like an echo of Marlow’s own voice.

Heart of Darkness is a book obsessed with sound—with voices and words—whispers, groans, and the silence of the darkness. Branagh navigates this auditory landscape with such brilliant precision that listening becomes a hypnotic, almost dangerous experience.

Branagh so completely captures the spell of Conrad’s language that the listener is drawn further and further in, just as the map of Africa once charmed the young Charlie Marlow. You won't just feel like you’ve heard a story; you'll feel like you are carrying Marlow’s loyalty to Kurtz inside yourself, and that you too will be compelled to re-tell the story. A masterclass in performance.