knives out 2019 movie review

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Rian Johnson ’s “Knives Out” is one of the most purely entertaining films in years. It is the work of a cinematic magician, one who keeps you so focused on what the left hand is doing that you miss the right. And, in this case, it’s not just a wildly fun mystery to unravel but a scathing bit of social commentary about where America is in 2019. Great mystery writers throughout history have dissected class in ways that were palatable to audiences looking for escapism, and Johnson is clearly doing that here too, using a wonderfully entertaining mystery structure that would make Agatha Christie smile. Directing a wildly charismatic cast who are all-in on what he’s doing, Johnson confidently stays a step or two ahead of his audience, leaving them breathless but satisfied at the end.

Harlan Thrombey ( Christopher Plummer ) is a wildly successful mystery writer and he’s dead. His housekeeper Fran (Edi Patterson) finds him with a slit throat and the knife still in his hand. It looks like suicide, but there are some questions. After all, who really slits their own throat? A couple of cops (the wonderful pair of  LaKeith Stanfield and Noah Segan ) come to the Thrombey estate do a small investigation, just to make sure they’re not missing anything, and the film opens with their conversations with each of the Thrombey family members. Daughter Linda ( Jamie Lee Curtis ) is a successful businesswoman with a shit husband named Richard ( Don Johnson ) and an awful son named Ransom ( Chris Evans ). Son Walt ( Michael Shannon ) runs the publishing side, but he’s been fighting a lot with dear old dad. Daughter-in-law Joni ( Toni Collette ) is deep into self-help but has been helping herself by ripping off the old man. Finally, there’s Marta Cabrera ( Ana de Armas ), the real heroine of “Knives Out” and Harlan’s most trusted confidante. Can she help solve the case?

The case may have just been closed if not for the arrival of the famous detective Benoit Blanc, played by Daniel Craig , who spins a southern drawl and oversized ego into something instantly memorable. Blanc was delivered a news story about the suicide and envelope of money. So someone thinks this is fishy. Why? And who? The question of who brought in Blanc drives the narrative as much as who killed Harlan. Johnson is constantly presenting viewers with the familiar, especially fans of the mystery movie—the single palatial setting, the family of monsters, the exaggerated detective—but then he subverts them every so slightly, and it feels fresh. So while Blanc feels like a Poirot riff, Johnson and Craig avoid turning it into a caricature of something we’ve seen before.

Craig is delightful—I love the excitement in his voice when he figures things out late in the film—but some of the cast gets lost. It’s inevitable with one this big, but if you’re going to “Knives Out” for a specific actor or actress, be aware that it’s a large ensemble piece and your fave may get short shrift. Unless your favorite is Ana de Armas, who is really the heart of the movie, allowing Johnson to imbue “Knives Out” with some wonderful political commentary. The Thrombeys claim to love Marta, even if they can’t remember which South American country she comes from, and Don Johnson gets a few razor sharp scenes as the kind of guy who rants about immigration before quoting “Hamilton.” It’s not embedded in the entire piece as much as “ Get Out ,” but this “Out” is similar in the way it uses genre structure to say something about wealth and social inequality. And in terms of performance, the often-promising de Armas has never been handed a role this big, and she totally delivers.

“Knives Out” crackles visually, although regular collaborator Steve Yedlin never allows his cinematography to get too showy to distract from the mystery or ensemble. It’s a film that works because of Johnson’s palpable love for the genre, but never becomes too meta or referential. A lot of talented directors have returned to genre movies after making a fortune and brought too much self-awareness with them, but that’s not the case here.

Ultimately, as in the films and books that inspired this one, it’s all about the whodunit, which is revealed in such unexpected ways that just when you think you have it all figured out, you realize something doesn’t add up. When it’s actually over (and my God does Johnson stick the landing with one of the best final shots of the year) you’ll unpack its ingenuity like a detective yourself, marveling at not just how the details of what happened that night revealed themselves, but the social message embedded in all of it. It’s tempting to say that it’s a mystery that Harlan Thrombey himself would have loved, but he probably never wrote one this good.

This review was filed from the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2019 .

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Knives Out (2019)

Rated PG-13

130 minutes

Ana de Armas as Marta

Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc

Chris Evans as Hugh Robinson

Jamie Lee Curtis as Linda Robinson

Toni Collette as Joni

Michael Shannon as Walt

Christopher Plummer as Harlan Thrombrey

Don Johnson as Morris Bristow

LaKeith Stanfield as Detective Troy Archer

Katherine Langford as Meg Thrombrey

Riki Lindhome as Donna Thrombrey

Noah Segan as Trooper Wagner

• Rian Johnson

Cinematographer

• Steve Yedlin
• Nathan Johnson

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‘Knives Out’ Review: Murder Most Clever

In his new movie, Rian Johnson dusts off Agatha Christie with help from Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis and Don Johnson.

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‘Knives Out’ | Anatomy of a Scene

Rian johnson narrates a sequence from his film..

My name is Rian Johnson, and I wrote and directed ‘Knives Out.’ So this is a scene about 45 minutes into the movie, where we first get to meet Chris Evans’ character, Hugh Ransom Drysdale. He goes by Ransom. And there’s Chris Evans, a rare moment of dogs not liking Chris Evans. You can’t really tell here, but this is a real mansion in the middle of Massachusetts that we shot in. It was a gorgeous murder mystery mansion that we just found and we shot inside and outside of it. This is LaKeith Stanfield and Noah Segan as the two local cops right here. “Excuse me. Sir, we’re officers of the law.” And here comes Daniel Craig as the eccentric detective, Benoit Blanc, and Ana de Armas as Marta. “So what’s this arrangement?” “Mr. Drysdale.” “CSI KFC?” I’m very proud right here of the staging of this, trying to stage everybody so the dialogue scenes worked. Like with this, we come in and first meet the family in this room doing this wide panning over shot to establish the geography of it. In the close up of Chris, you see Daniel coming back there. We get Toni’s entrance. “Hey. Hey.” And this is Frank Oz. Frank Oz, who did a little cameo for us. I’ll try and go through and introduce the cast a little bit. You saw Toni Collette there, who plays a lifestyle guru. This is Michael Shannon, who plays Walt, the youngest brother. Jamie Lee Curtis, who plays Linda, the eldest sister. And Don Johnson will be seen here in a moment, who plays her husband. There’s Don right there. Look at all the great sweaters. And then hanging in the background, that’s Katherine Langford and that’s Riki Lindhome. “Jacob was in that bathroom the night of the party.” And that’s Jaeden Martell, who plays the younger son. So an example of that three-shot right there, like this shot right here, figuring out how to just get everybody comfortably in frame it in a way that feels natural. This scene was one of the most fun scenes in the whole movie to shoot, just because all of these actors were together in this room. We had a couple big scenes like this, where all of these amazing actors were together, and they all got to play off of each other. “You want to go?” “You bet, Skippy, let’s go.” So, yeah, everyone kind of goes at each other here. I love this ridiculous little slap fight between the two of them. I mean, it’s kind of silly. But that’s kind of the tone of the movie. It’s a murder mystery, but it kind of, you can tell, has like a sense of humor to it. [INTERPOSING VOICES] “We got to do this more often.”

By Manohla Dargis

A sleek game of cat and mouse, “ Knives Out ” begins the hunt with a mysterious pool of blood and ends, well, telling wouldn’t be fair. The press screening that I attended was preceded by a brief video in which the writer and director Rian Johnson asked viewers not to spill the movie’s secrets. The entreaty suggests how seriously Johnson takes his own cleverly deployed twists and the challenges of keeping ostensible spoilers under wraps. The twists are kinked and amusing, although far less striking than the obvious pleasure he had making this exactingly machined puzzle box.

Stuffed with famous and blurrily familiar faces, the movie takes the shape of an old-fashioned whodunit — the kind with mystery, suspense, entertainment, a corpse on an heirloom settee and a half-dozen or so shifty suspects milling about.

As in many genre exemplars, the main setting is a stately manor with dark corners, creaking stairs and a warren of richly appointed rooms shrouded in secrets. Together, the rooms create a claustrophobic maze, though they more pointedly resemble cabinets of curiosities with jumbles of books, dead animals, laughing masks, acres of rugs and eccentric objets .

The house itself feels like a mousetrap, which works for a narrative puzzle in which the parts keep shifting as the wood-paneled walls close in. The overall sense of confinement is perfect for the aims of a private investigator, Benoit Blanc, a honey-baked ham played by Daniel Craig with grandiose self-regard and a Southern accent that seems borrowed from Kevin Spacey . There isn’t a butler in the parlor, but there is a rather too virtuous caretaker, Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), who worked for the manor’s imperious patriarch Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), who suddenly and rather flamboyantly croaks.

Harlan is a charming monster, a type that Plummer excels in playing, and it’s a shame that he isn’t around longer. A renowned mystery writer, Harlan has written stacks of best sellers, amassing wealth and cultivating a grasping, desperate dependence in his avaricious family. Someone clearly had a good time coming up with the titles of his tomes, which read like winking clues or chapter headings: “Vulcan’s Den,” “The Badger,” “Nick of Time,” “Ultimatum,” “This Little Piggy.” A genre savant, Johnson understands that one of the pleasures of mystery stories is how they turn viewers into detectives, eager amateur sleuths who also sift through the clues, false and not.

Johnson scatters enough hints to keep you busy guessing as characters enter and exit amid abrupt cuts and flashbacks. Things get complicated, though they never deepen, which seems by design. “Knives Out” is essentially an energetic, showy take on a dusty Agatha Christie-style murder mystery, with interrogations, possible motives and dubious alibis. Soon after Harlan’s body is discovered, the law ( Lakeith Stanfield and Noah Segan) questions the family, a finely curated collection of gargoyles presided over by a crisp Jamie Lee Curtis and a leaden Michael Shannon as Harlan’s children, and rounded out by Don Johnson, Chris Evans and Toni Collette, among others.

You spend a lot of time with Benoit and Marta, who are never as engaging as the size of their roles suggest they’re meant to be. Benoit’s part in the investigation is another mystery; he sniffs around like its lead dog but mostly comes across as a delectable chew toy for the director. When you first meet Benoit, he is sitting in an armchair, a nod to a genre staple and some teasing misdirection: He is, you soon appreciate, a hands-on sleuth if not an especially penetrative one. He presses witnesses, roams the grounds and sticks close to Marta, the most sympathetic and sentimentalized character in a movie that otherwise exhibits an exuberant skepticism about human nature.

As the inquiry builds, the suspects are stripped of their defenses, exposing pettiness, sharp teeth, false fronts and one pure heart. Johnson fills the frame with looming heads, folds in a nifty car chase and, in a striking tableau, sets loose the hounds. M. Emmet Walsh (who appeared in the Coen brothers’ “ Blood Simple ”) pops in, as does a photo of the magician Ricky Jay, who died before he could play Walsh’s role. Johnson’s own sleight of hand is estimable, even if his effort to add politics into the crowded mix rings hollow. The machine is what matters here, and he has clearly had such a good time engineering it that it’s hard not to feel bad when you don’t laugh along with him.

Rated PG-13 for blood on the floor. Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes.

Manohla Dargis has been the co-chief film critic since 2004. She started writing about movies professionally in 1987 while earning her M.A. in cinema studies at New York University, and her work has been anthologized in several books. More about Manohla Dargis

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Knives Out review – a deliciously entertaining whodunnit

Rian Johnson’s homage to Agatha Christie delivers laughs, twists and thrills with aplomb

D escribing his thrillingly playful attitude toward genre cinema, writer/director Rian Johnson once told me that he loved the “slightly meta conversation it opens between you and the viewer” – the way that a shared set of ground rules can be assumed and then subverted. That’s been a feature of Johnson’s career since his low-budget debut feature, Brick (2005), transposed a dark, 1940s noir narrative to the sunny environs of a modern California high school, with attention-grabbing results. In 2012’s Looper , he turned a time-travel adventure into a bleak meditation upon the consequences of solving problems through violence. More recently, his 2017 Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi , outraged some hardcore fans who didn’t think the series’ ever-evolving mythology should be up for discussion.

In the deliciously entertaining Knives Out , Johnson goes back to his roots with an updated homage to the Agatha Christie whodunnits he loved as a child, and to those “cheekily self-aware” screen adaptations in which Peter Ustinov would lead an all-star cast through a labyrinthine murder mystery.

The setting is a gothic pile in modern-day New England where crime-writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) has recently capped his 85th birthday celebrations by dying dramatically in his attic study. It looks like an open-and-shut suicide, but could one of Harlan’s variously leechy family members (witheringly described as a bunch of “self-made over-achievers”) have slit his throat? After all, the old man spent the evening settling old scores and “cleaning house”…

Perhaps black-sheep Ransom (Chris Evans, oozing privilege) did it – he was heard arguing with his grandfather that night. Or what about the ever-so-slightly snivelling Walt (Michael Shannon, playing against type), whose publishing fortune depended on his father’s faltering favour? Then there’s son-in-law Richard (Don Johnson), a Trumpy horror with a wandering eye; and widowed lifestyle guru Joni (Toni Collette, channelling goopy Gwyneth Paltrow), both of whom had axes to grind.

Only Harlan’s nurse and carer Marta (Ana de Armas) appears above suspicion, blessed with a “regurgitative reaction to mistruths” that makes her vomit when lying. As for eldest daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis in career-best form), she can’t help “thinking about Dad’s games” and “waiting for the big reveal…”

Helping to divine the nature of Harlan’s “manner of death” is gentleman sleuth Benoit Blanc, a cigar-smoking, coin-flipping interloper played with an outrageous southern US accent (Ransom calls him the “CSI-KFC”) by Daniel Craig. Blanc describes himself as a “passive observer of the truth”, but a web of intrigue surrounds his own presence at this party. Who hired him? And what for?

As with the very best whodunnits, everything is set up and sneakily signalled in the opening moments of the drama, but it’s only on second viewing that those early clues become evident. There’s real pleasure to be had watching Johnson wind the coiled springs of his steel-trap plot, yet none of it would bite if we didn’t care about the characters, who remain just on the right side of caricature. Built upon a wittily verbose script that delivers more laugh-out-loud lines than most of the year’s alleged comedies, Knives Out retains a beating human heart into which daggers are regularly plunged. Witness Linda delivering a stinging reminder that all this entertaining mystery is playing out in the wake of a family tragedy, with Curtis’s imperious performance capturing that balance between the arch and the empathetic that is the film’s signature.

As with Christie’s novels, there’s a strong element of social satire too. Although Marta is repeatedly told that she’s “part of the family”, she wasn’t invited to Harlan’s funeral, prompting more than one wealthy suspect to insist confidentially: “I thought you should have been there, but I was overruled.” Significant, too, that the oft-mocked Blanc remains a fish out of water in this cloistered environment, presenting a clownish facade that distracts the unsuspecting from his more serious purpose.

All this plays out in a house that is rightly likened to a giant Cluedo board (plaudits to production designer David Crank), replete with trick windows and creaky stairs, handily overheard by clock-watching light sleepers. Steve Yedlin’s cameras prowl through its rooms with stealthy zest, slithering around characters, pushing in on their faces – eyeing them with close-up suspicion from below or maintaining a facade of objective distance from above. Editor Bob Ducsay intercuts between past and present as voiceovers establish a dynamic dialogue between disparate time periods.

The cherry on the cake is Nathan Johnson’s terrifically ripe score, as sharp and spiralling as the theatrical crown of knives that hangs behind key interrogation scenes, pointing and prodding accusingly as we wait for the sword of Damocles to drop.

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• Mark Kermode's film of the week
• Rian Johnson
• Jamie Lee Curtis

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Film Review: Rian Johnson’s ‘Knives Out’

'Brick' director Rian Johnson takes a break between 'Star Wars' movies to deliver this old-school, all-star Agatha Christie homage.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

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Now here’s a mystery worth solving: Why doesn’t Hollywood give us more ridiculously complicated, gratuitously eccentric whodunits? You know, the kind of all-star affairs where a colorful assortment of highly suspicious characters gather in a remote manor, or at an old castle, or on the Orient Express, in order to be confronted by a corpse and the prospect that a murderer lurks among them. It’s not that audiences have lost their appetite for such tales. Au contraire, ’twas television that killed the old-fashioned detective story. Over the years, “Murder She Wrote” and “Masterpiece Mystery!” have rendered such movies redundant — on the big screen at least — by solving procedurals on the small screen each week.

With “Knives Out,” writer-director Rian Johnson shows that there’s life left in the genre, paying crowd-pleasing tribute to the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie and Ruth Rendell with a wondrously convoluted case recounted in the most roundabout way possible. Taking a break between “Star Wars” sequels to knock off something a little less far, far away from his heart (which is not to say that he hasn’t put himself into George Lucas’ galaxy), Johnson returns to the genre that started it all for him — as the director who translated hard-boiled detective novels to a high school setting in his 2005 debut, “Brick.” The director has learned a few tricks since, and here he gets to show them off in service of a suitably squirrelly plot.

When a best-selling mystery novelist is found dead by what appears to be his own hand, it seems only natural to assume that the “suicide” is in fact the first clue in an elaborate game of some kind. Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is the only mastermind living in the family mansion. His three ostensible heirs — elegant Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis), earnest Walt (Michael Shannon) and widowed Joni (Toni Collette) — and their various offspring have gathered for the patriarch’s 85th birthday, which is festive enough until the following morning, when Harlan is discovered with his throat slit.

He always knew how to deliver an ending. Now, it’s up to the police (Lakeith Stanfield and Noah Segan), plus a celebrity detective ( Daniel Craig ), to figure out who’s responsible. While the principal suspects — Linda’s husband Richard (Don Johnson) plus the aforementioned three make four — each share their version of events, Johnson begins to feature flashbacks to the night in question. In other crime movies, such reenactments have been known to be unreliable, bent to reflect the testimony as it’s heard — a kind of “Rashomon”-like trick to keep the viewer guessing. Here, the vignettes depict the truth, amusingly revealing the omissions and lies in each speaker’s story.

Twists abound in “Knives Out,” but by far the most unexpected is Johnson’s decision to treat this brain teaser as a comedy. Apart from the zany screwball headache that was “The Brothers Bloom,” the director’s films have been undeniably clever but distressingly serious. Here, he manages to blend the two, populating the Thrombey household with one-of-a-kind weirdoes. The only remotely normal individual among them is Harlan’s nurse Marta (Ana de Armas), the immigrant outsider with the innocent eyes and lie-detector stomach (like a dyspeptic Pinocchio, she pukes at the first sign of falsehood).

It all serves to remind what a pleasure is to be had untangling elaborate cases when the mystery is twistery and the ensemble, like that creaky “dark and stormy night” cliché, is sufficiently over-cast. By enlisting stars to play each of the characters who plausibly coulda done it, Johnson recalls movies such as “Murder by Death” and “Clue,” which walked a fine line between homage and self-parody. The setting may be American, but there’s a decidedly British flavor to the proceedings — which makes Craig’s chicken-fried accent all the more peculiar. Taking a breather between James Bond movies, the actor seems determined to amuse himself, going overboard with the character, much as he did in “Logan Lucky” (although there, at least, it played to more amusing effect).

Craig is perhaps the only one whose performance seems to have spiraled out of Johnson’s control. The others are each encouraged to make an impression without leaving quite so many teeth marks on the scenery. And what scenery it is! The Thrombey estate is an art director’s dream, as production designer David Crank imagines a mansion that only a mystery novelist could fashion for himself, full of secret panels, back hallways and overt references to the genre (as in the macabre circle of daggers and swords decorating the library). It’s like Guillermo del Toro’s “Bleak House,” the building next door to the horror director’s actual home, which he’s stuffed to the gills with all the things that inspire him.

Thrombey’s best-sellers may have bought that mansion, but his kids, their kids and the various ungrateful in-laws seem willing to do just about anything to get their slice of his publishing empire — whores d’oeuvre, if you will. By contrast, “the help” — as Marta and the maid, Fran (Edi Patterson), are called — respected the old man, and cooperate to solve the case. America may not have the same rigid class system that features in so many British mysteries of this sort, but Johnson engineers a way to make a statement about wealth and entitlement in his own country. The rich-folks jabs provide the film’s cheapest laughs, although the choice to tell the story largely through Marta’s perspective makes a statement, and helps to exaggerate how awful the family members are. The only one who seems remotely decent is Harlan’s black-sheep grandson Ransom ( Chris Evans ), who shows up late and whisks Marta away from the jackals.

If only Harlan could see how disgracefully his successors conduct themselves when he’s gone. Or maybe he knew them well enough to anticipate exactly how they’d behave. That’s a beguiling possibility as well — and one with which Johnson repeatedly entices us as his intricate narrative skips between various characters’ points of view. “Knives Out” recalls a time when audiences could still be surprised by such mysteries, before the genre devolved into a corny parody of itself. Johnson keeps us guessing, which is good, but the thing that makes this a better mousetrap than most isn’t the complexity, but the fact he’s managed to rig it without the usual cheese.

Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival (Special Presentations), Sept. 7, 2019. Running time: 130 MIN.

• Production: A Lionsgate release, presented with MRC of a T-Street production. Producers: Ram Bergman, Rian Johnson.
• Crew: Director, writer: Rian Johnson. Camera (color, widescreen): Steve Yedlin. Editor: Bob Ducsay. Music:
• With: Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield , Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, Frank Oz, Riki Lindhome, Edi Patterson, K. Callan, Noah Segan, M. Emmet Walsh, Christopher Plummer.

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• <i>Knives Out</i> Is a Delightful Whodunit Attuned to the Worries of the Modern World

Knives Out Is a Delightful Whodunit Attuned to the Worries of the Modern World

M arketing people seem to think that audiences are always hungry for something new. But what if, without realizing it, they’re actually longing for something old? Writer-director Rian Johnson’s marvelous ensemble murder mystery—and comedy— Knives Out is based on one of the most timeworn conceits in the whodunit playbook: A bunch of family members and other associates gather in an old country house after a rich patriarch or dowager dies under mysterious circumstances. They may want to find out who’s responsible for the premature death of their loved one—but generally they’re more curious to find out how much they stand to gain monetarily from the death of said loved one.

That’s the basic plot of Knives Out, approximately as modern as the novels that Agatha Christie began writing roughly 100 years ago and continued to produce almost until her death, in 1976. But Johnson has taken the essential formula and made it his own. The picture is a delight, but even if it offers some nostalgic pleasures, it’s also attuned to all the worries and, worse, the thoughtlessness that characterize the modern world.

Crabby but sensible old codger Harlan Thrombey ( Christopher Plummer ) has amassed a fortune from his career as a prolific writer of mysteries. Then, on the morning after his 85th birthday, he’s found dead, apparently by his own hand. The last person to see him alive was the woman hired to care for him, a nurse named Marta (Ana de Armas), a Latina immigrant whose family depends on her job. Harlan had always adored Marta, and those in his immediate orbit claim to love her too: His daughter, crisp-mannered businesswoman Linda ( Jamie Lee Curtis ) and son, earnest but hapless Walt (Michael Shannon), sing her praises. Joni ( Toni Collette ), a somewhat shallow lifestyle guru who’s the widow of another son, also heartily approves.

Everybody loudly proclaims how great Marta is, though it’s questionable whether any of them have even gotten to know her. Then the police (played by LaKeith Stanfield and Noah Segan) show up to begin questioning the family. A celebrity detective with a buttery Southern drawl and the delectable name of Benoit Blanc (played by Daniel Craig, clearly having a blast) has also been brought in to oversee the proceedings. He watches wryly as the extended family—including Linda’s silky-slimy husband Richard (Don Johnson) and Harlan’s spoiled grandkid Ransom (Chris Evans)—spin their own narrative of the night’s events, tilting suspicion heavily toward Marta.

The plot of Knives Out is enjoyably, wackily serpentine. Even if you’ve already guessed who hasn’t dunnit, it won’t be easy to figure out who has. The movie’s pleasures lie in the way these characters, each of them well-defined, square off against one another even when they’re pretending to be on the same side. Knives Out is filled with deceit, greed, blackmail, overall unpleasantness—and it’s funny. One character, upon being introduced to Mr. Blanc, blurts out, “I read a Tweet about a New Yorker article about you!” There’s more wit here than in most of Johnson’s movies, although it’s worth noting that his last picture, the 2017 Star Wars: Episode VIII—The Last Jedi , was the best of the recent Star Wars movies, a franchise picture that felt as if it were made by a human being, not a committee.

Knives Out also shows the human touch: The ensemble cast is terrific—these actors make it look as if the movie were a lark to make. De Armas, who was surprisingly memorable as a hologram-wife in Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 , brings sharply focused subtlety to her role here. In a movie filled with intentionally and often comically broad characters, she’s playing a person, not a type. Marta doesn’t radiate virtuousness as a character trait; kindness just finds its way out as she moves and breathes.

As entertaining as Knives Out is, there’s a lot rippling beneath the surface. One of its ideas is that immigrants, people who have chosen to live in America and have had to make sacrifices to do so, often make better Americans than people who were born here. And for all its clever, delightful trickiness, Knives Out is completely straightforward about one thing: It shows the utmost respect for science and for people who know what they’re doing. This is a movie in which expertise and good sense win the day; no one is rewarded for stupidity or cruelty. And in that sense, Knives Out isn’t just a beautifully made diversion. It’s also a utopian vision.

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Knives Out Reviews

Knives Out is playful and entertaining but his commentary on political and personal detractions within his life spring forward...

Full Review | Apr 4, 2024

In Knives Out, the crime is treated through the police enigma genre that will keep the viewer entertained from beginning to end, through the excellent dosage of information and the different twists and turns that its resolution presents.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Jan 27, 2024

Witty, unpredictable and surprisingly insightful, Rian Johnson’s whodunnit Knives Out keeps you guessing until the very end.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 13, 2023

Masterfully written dialogue, remarkable editing, and great use of classic cinematography techniques. An entertaining story with tremendous replay value and significant sociopolitical layers that only elevate the already complex yet subtle narrative.

Full Review | Original Score: A | Jul 24, 2023

Not only is Johnson enjoying himself, but the entire cast is clearly having a blast. And how could they not? Johnson creates for them a narrative playground full of whip-smart dialogue, genre nostalgia, and with a biting sense of humor.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 22, 2022

It has good performances and brushes of originality and freshness. Yet it tries so hard for the audience's approval and validation it becomes somewhat bugging. Good movie nonetheless. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jul 7, 2022

…an engrossing puzzle that constitutes that rarest of cinematic commodities, a good story well told…

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 21, 2022

A devilishly entertaining all-star murder mystery that stands with the best of the genre

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | May 13, 2022

It was one of 2019's best films, if only for the way it studies classicism in the genre that has always leaned on the lifestyles of the rich and the famous to mount its greatest mysteries.

Full Review | Mar 11, 2022

Sharp and funny, Knives Out exceeds expectations by proving to be more than its surface implies, even as Johnson demonstrates his first-rate skill in the story's maneuvers and charades.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 23, 2022

Knives Out might not be the classic whodunit that the marketing suggests, but it remains one of the most entertaining and engaging films of the year.

Full Review | Feb 12, 2022

A generally enjoyable time with fun cartoonish characters.

Full Review | Original Score: 60/100 | Jan 14, 2022

The dialogue is... to die for. It doesn't get any better than this.

Full Review | Sep 16, 2021

An ingenious new thriller that takes the bones of Agatha Christie and brilliantly updates it for the most purely entertaining movie of the year.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Aug 12, 2021

Bubbling merrily in its humanity, and impishly clear in exposing societal rot through the cleverest of cinema lenses - a whodunit.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jul 31, 2021

Knives Out is a thoroughly satisfying murder mystery populated with well-drawn, idiosyncratic characters who collectively present a tapestry of modern America.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 25, 2021

A thrilling, expertly-crafted whodunit...

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 29, 2021

A great example of what genre cinema can be on its best days, Rian Johnson's whodunit takes the rules, bends them, plays with them, reverses them and then realigns them so smoothly...

Full Review | Apr 14, 2021

Knives Out is a self-aware, stylised farce that has a great time - and pulls you along with it.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Mar 25, 2021

Knives Out is a great antidote to the Oscar contenders and family fare that dominate this time of year. It's a purely fun time at the movies thanks to its strong story and fantastic performances.

Full Review | Feb 17, 2021

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‘knives out’: film review | tiff 2019.

Daniel Craig plays the wily detective brought in to untangle the truth in Rian Johnson's old-fashioned all-star whodunit 'Knives Out,' as the family of Christopher Plummer's famed mystery writer circle like vultures.

By David Rooney

David Rooney

Chief Film Critic

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In the typically mischievous opening shot of Knives Out , the camera frames a creepy Gothic Revival mansion skirted in morning mist as black guard dogs run across the leafy grounds in unsettling slow-motion. The scene could be from a century or more ago until it cuts to an interior kitchen shot and closes in on a novelty mug bearing the words: “My house. My rules. My coffee.” That mug, like everything else in Rian Johnson ‘s ingeniously plotted, tremendously entertaining and deviously irreverent crowd-pleaser, will figure significantly in a later payoff. A delicious throwback to the all-star whodunit, this juicy comedy thriller is a treat from start to finish, which should make it a sizable hit for Lionsgate .

“Look around, the guy practically lives in the Clue board,” observes the Massachusetts State Police Trooper (Noah Segan) assigned to work the case alongside Detective Lt. Elliott ( LaKeith Stanfield ), when Harlan Thrombey ( Christopher Plummer ), the world’s best-selling mystery writer, is found with his throat slit the morning after his 85th birthday party.

Release date: Nov 27, 2019

That winking reference is one of many that range from the amusingly obvious — a quick glimpse of Angela Lansbury tapping away at a typewriter in a TV rerun of Murder, She Wrote , dubbed in Spanish — to craftier Easter eggs like having one major character sing a snippet of a song by Stephen Sondheim, who collaborated with Anthony Perkins on the script of another starry murder mystery, The Last of Sheila .

That kitschy pleasure dates back to 1973, and Johnson clearly has a big soft spot for the lavish whodunits of that era, epitomized by Agatha Christie adaptations like Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile , with their staggering parades of acting royalty, and sumptuous production and costume designs. There’s also a wicked streak of Hitchcock in the devilish plotting, a dash of the twisted meta-mystery of Sleuth and Deathtrap , and a sly sense of humor that recalls the 1976 Neil Simon satire Murder by Death . All that makes Knives Out a more playful and far more contemporary renewal of the genre than Kenneth Branagh’s pageant-like 2017 Orient Express remake.

In one especially fun flourish, production designer David Crank gives a nod to Game of Thrones by having the various members of the Thrombey family and staff interrogated against a macabre art piece with knives, axes and saws fanning out like the back of the Iron Throne.

The key figure, of course, is the story’s Hercule Poirot counterpart, a courtly gumshoe with a Tennessee drawl and a florid turn of phrase named Benoit Blanc, played by Daniel Craig with infectious enjoyment. While the cops are ready to call Harlan’s death an open-and-shut suicide case, Blanc suspects foul play, and as he methodically gathers evidence, everyone becomes a suspect. At the very least, almost everyone appears to have had a motive, even more so once the reading of the will (Johnson recruits Star Wars buddy Frank Oz as the family lawyer) freezes them out of the multimillion-dollar estate.

That setup creates the opportunity for some lip-smacking character work from a crackerjack cast. Harlan’s daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis) is a real estate maven married to smug philanderer Richard ( Don Johnson ). Their aptly named son Ransom (Chris Evans) is the black sheep of the family, a playboy whose idle ways are frowned upon by a clan who like to regard themselves, somewhat falsely, as self-made entrepreneurs. Linda’s brother Walt ( Michael Shannon ) manages his father’s publishing empire, though not with an entirely free hand, while his teenage son Jacob (Jaeden Martell) keeps busy trolling liberals on social media. Harlan’s other daughter, Joni ( Toni Collette ), is a lifestyle guru whose health, beauty and spiritual wellness empire sounds more than a little Goopy.

While the movie opens with Harlan’s housekeeper (Edi Patterson) finding him dead, recaps of the previous evening’s birthday celebration from multiple viewpoints allow the ever-formidable Plummer to show what a teasing old rogue the author was. His taste for elaborate games is reflected all over the intricate details of Crank’s marvelous set, where most of the action unfolds.

One major puzzle that even the man himself takes time to figure out is who hired Blanc with an anonymous envelope full of cash and why. He enlists Harlan’s trusted nurse Marta (Ana de Armas) to serve as Watson to his Holmes, and her presence among the complacently wealthy Thrombeys allows the writer-director to stir in some clever and ultimately subversive class commentary, taking aim at white entitlement. There’s a very funny running joke about how none of them can remember which Latin American country Marta’s mother hails from, and a discussion of the current immigrant debate in America is a cringe-inducing hoot, with the ghastly Richard excelling at tone-deaf self-righteousness.

Johnson’s screenplay in many ways is the star here, with its well-oiled plot mechanics and guileful twists and turns, constantly pulling the rug out from under the audience as much as the characters. Blanc calls the mystery “a case with a hole in the middle. A donut.” And as the complications pile up, he revises that description to a donut hole within a donut hole.

But the smart script would be nothing without actors able to keep up with its surprises, and there’s not a weak link in the ensemble. Everyone gets his or her moments, but if I had to single out some especially choice contributions, Curtis is in impeccably brittle form, Evans is hilariously reprehensible and Collette is divine as a deeply sincere phony. Craig, chewing the scenery with relish, and the charming de Armas (put to much better use here than in Olivier Assayas’ disappointing Wasp Network ) provide the indispensable thread that binds the large gallery of characters together.

Along with Crank’s set, which is like a cabinet of wonders you want more time to explore, Jenny Eagan’s costumes reveal a lot about the characters. Steve Yedlin’s camera snakes around the old house with an all-seeing eye, and the lush orchestral score by the director’s cousin and frequent collaborator, Nathan Johnson, provides the perfect complement for a film that does an expert job of juggling gripping, humorous and suspenseful moods. The knack for dizzying trickery that was built into the very title of Johnson’s 2012 feature, Looper , seems here to have found its ideal form.

( Knives Out is produced by MRC, which shares a parent company, Valence Media, with The Hollywood Reporter .)

Production companies: Lionsgate, MRC, T-Street Distributor: Lionsgate Cast: Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, Christopher Plummer, Frank Oz, Riki Lindhome, Edi Patterson, K. Callan, Noah Segan, M. Emmet Walsh, Marlene Forte Director-screenwriter: Rian Johnson Producers: Rian Johnson, Ram Bergman Executive producer: Tom Karnowski Director of photography: Steve Yedlin Production designer: David Crank Costume designer: Jenny Eagan Music: Nathan Johnson Editor: Bob Ducsay Casting: Mary Vernieu Venue: Toronto International Film Festival (Special Presentations) Sales: Lionsgate

130 minutes

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Review: Ingenious and irresistible, ‘Knives Out’ is a criminally good time

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The lies begin piling up early in “Knives Out,” Rian Johnson’s magnificently crafted tale of murder and mayhem. Someone has slit the throat of Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), the 85-year-old patriarch of a family with deep pockets and an even deeper capacity for duplicity. His son-in-law, Richard (Don Johnson), is hiding an extramarital affair. His daughter-in-law, Joni (Toni Collette), has been secretly dipping into his fortune for years. But few lies are crueler, or less convincing, than the five little words we hear spoken near the beginning: “You’re part of this family.”

The brave young woman on the receiving end of that lie is Marta Cabrera (the superb Cuban actress Ana de Armas), Harlan’s nurse and, by all appearances, his one true friend. She’s the only person who’s genuinely heartbroken over the old man’s death, which makes it all the more bewildering that, cheap sentiments aside, none of his relatives thought to invite her to the funeral. Maybe they felt shamed by her decency. Or maybe it was just their latest mindless dismissal of Marta, who immigrated to the U.S. from a Latin American country (their inability to remember which one becomes a brutal running gag) and is treated more like a domestic servant than a member of the family.

And so there’s an undeniable justice to the way Marta turns amateur sleuth, reluctantly enlisted by the famed private investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, a very choice ham). Harlan may be dead, but it is his family’s moral obliviousness, their obscene wealth and monstrous privilege, that Johnson keeps eviscerating in this extravagantly entertaining movie. Even among the many class-conscious dramas that have flooded theaters this season (“Parasite,” “Hustlers” and “Joker” come to mind), there is something particularly decadent about the eat-the-rich buffet that “Knives Out” serves up. To watch as the Thrombeys tear themselves apart is to experience a wave of schadenfreude so heady and intoxicating that the revelations of whodunit and why almost feel like third-act bonuses.

Happily, those revelations were clearly not an afterthought for Johnson, a pop-savvy, detail-driven filmmaker whose fondness for crime fiction has been in evidence since his 2005 high-school noir pastiche, “Brick.” Twisty, rug-pulling plot construction is one of his strengths as a filmmaker; it may also explain why his splendid contribution to the ever-expanding yet rigidly fan-policed “Star Wars” universe was so ill received in some quarters. In that picture, as in his 2012 time-travel fantasy, “Looper,” Johnson revels in the kind of labyrinthine storytelling that feels increasingly like a lost Hollywood art, a relic from a time when the studios produced fewer spoiler warnings and more actual surprises.

And so while “Knives Out” may superficially resemble an archly knowing spoof of Agatha Christie, the truth is that few spoofs demonstrate such consummate cleverness, such moment-to-moment mastery of the conventions they’re satirizing. This is, to be sure, a riotously funny movie — a priceless collection of puns, insults, one-liners and some of the best-timed barf gags this side of “Problem Child 2” — but it also treats the classical detective story with the seriousness and grandeur it deserves.

Johnson revels in the old-school tropes of the genre: the juggling of time frames, the withholding of information, the reading of a will, the brandishing of blades and syringes. He can’t resist lingering on the shock of the housekeeper, Fran (Edi Patterson), who discovers Harlan’s bloodied body, or stuffing some genial banter into the mouths of the police detectives (Lakeith Stanfield and a very funny Noah Segan) who are called to the crime scene. Sleuths and suspects all convene at the ramshackle Thrombey estate, a thing of glittering, shadowy beauty in Steve Yedlin’s sharp cinematography and David Crank’s production design. (Best detail: a prize collection of vintage daggers arranged in a circular target formation, like a j’accuse! by way of the Iron Throne.)

Harlan was a celebrated mystery novelist, and his murder turns out to have a fiendish complexity worthy of his own bestsellers. With elegance and economy, “Knives Out” carefully lines up its circle of suspects, nearly all of whom are delightfully loathsome and amply motivated to bump the old man off. There’s the philandering Richard and the thieving Joni, a social-media influencer with her own Goop-inspired lifestyle brand, and also Harlan’s Fredo Corleone-esque son, Walt (Michael Shannon), who until recently oversaw his father’s lucrative publishing empire.

Like his vituperative older sister, Linda (a splendid Jamie Lee Curtis), Walt is a self-flattering but fundamentally useless person, someone who has thrived entirely on Harlan’s generosity. The same goes for Linda and Richard’s son, Ransom (a wily Chris Evans), an impudent black sheep who nonetheless enjoyed a peculiar love-hate relationship with his grandfather. And then there are Joni’s liberal-minded daughter (Katherine Langford) and Walt’s alt-right-leaning son (Jaeden Martell), the youngest and most politically energized members of a clan that likes to squabble over illegal immigration, parent-child separations and other Trump-era talking points.

While it doesn’t take much detective work to figure out where “Knives Out’s” own political sympathies lie, the movie’s larger point is that, when a dynasty is this corrupt, this mired in narcissism and nepotism, those individual leanings become entirely irrelevant. To paraphrase some of Johnson’s snarkier dialogue, extreme greed has a way of uniting conservative trolls and liberal snowflakes alike. And so as delectable as all this family squabbling is, only a few of the Thrombeys emerge as more than cardboard constructs (albeit very amusing ones). It’s no accident that the one who will eventually outshine them all happens to be the kindest and least financially privileged character in the movie.

I’m not talking about Blanc, although Craig is irresistible as this Southern-gentleman detective, with his courtly manners and flamboyant drawl; he’s like James Bond gone to tweed. But while Blanc comes across as a genially bumbling figure at first (one suspect calls him Foghorn Leghorn), he’s shrewd enough to recognize a valuable ally in Marta, whose evolution from guileless outsider to commanding truth teller is one of the story’s most bracing developments. The Thrombeys may write Marta off as someone of no consequence, but the movie knows better. So, too, did Harlan, movingly played by Plummer in extended flashbacks that allow him to hover over the proceedings like a watchful, benevolent ghost.

The name Harlan Thrombey comes from an old “Choose Your Own Adventure” paperback called “Who Killed Harlowe Thrombey?” It’s one of the movie’s countless reference points, some of which Johnson explicitly acknowledges: He’ll throw in a “Clue” name-drop here, a “Murder, She Wrote” cutaway there. I can personally pay “Knives Out” no higher compliment than to say that, with its boisterous comic high jinks and airtight plotting, the movie reminded me less of Agatha Christie than of John Dickson Carr, one of the greatest and funniest of Golden Age detective novelists.

Christie, Carr and their ilk were often lumped into the somewhat derogatory category of the “cozy,” that reassuring mystery subgenre in which every pesky bloodstain can be wiped away and every murder can be neatly solved from an armchair. “Knives Out” doesn’t try to transcend the pleasures of the cozy; it wouldn’t be half as delightful if it did. But it does weaponize those pleasures in ways you may not be expecting. Marta’s dogged pursuit of justice, for Harlan and ultimately for herself, builds to what may be the most satisfying closing shot I’ve seen this year. Rarely has “kill ’em with kindness” taken on such radical new meaning.

‘Knives Out’

Rated: PG-13, for thematic elements including brief violence, some strong language, sexual references and drug material Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes Playing: Sneaks Nov. 22; opens Nov. 27 in general release

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'Knives Out,' A Classic Comic Mystery Of Uncommon Sharpness

Linda Holmes

Knives Out , written and directed by Rian Johnson, brings together an all-star cast for a festive and fun family fatality. Claire Folger/Lionsgate hide caption

Knives Out , written and directed by Rian Johnson, brings together an all-star cast for a festive and fun family fatality.

Certain fictional mansions exist only so their owners can mysteriously die in them. The gothic revival abode of famous novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) in Rian Johnson's Knives Out is one of them. All brick turrets and spindly spires on the outside, all dark wood and winding staircases on the inside, it's a perfect place to throw a party — especially one in which all the suspects in a death are gathered at the request of law enforcement.

The family Harlan leaves behind is a motley collection of the idiosyncratic products of his wealth: daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her husband Richard (Don Johnson); Linda and Richard's hot, aggressive, disappointing son Ransom (Chris Evans); Harlan's son Walt (Michael Shannon) and his wife Donna (Riki Lindhome) and their son Jacob (Jaeden Martell); widowed daughter-in-law Joni (Toni Collette) and her daughter Meg (Katherine Langford); and the mysterious Greatnana (K Callan), always watching from the corner. There's also Harlan's faithful nurse Marta (Ana de Armas), perhaps the only person Harlan truly liked and trusted.

A police detective (LaKeith Stanfield) and his helpful right hand (Noah Segan) have gathered everyone for interviews — and accompanying them is Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), a southern detective so thickly accented that he's compared to Colonel Sanders. Why Blanc is there at all is one of many things I would not dare reveal, as this film is not a trick or a postmodern deconstruction of a genre, but is instead an actual old-fashioned whodunit that will eventually tell you whodunit and why, precisely as it should.

Katherine Langford, Toni Collette, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Riki Lindhome and Jaeden Martell in Knives Out . Claire Folger/Lionsgate hide caption

Katherine Langford, Toni Collette, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Riki Lindhome and Jaeden Martell in Knives Out .

If it sounds like a very big cast full of potentially very big performances, please know it is one. With the exception of de Armas and perhaps Evans, everyone in the film is working in marvelous broad strokes, drawing these characters as types but not retreads. From Collette's goofy lifestyle influencer to Shannon's stone-faced and resentment-driven grump, they're all perfectly cast. And that's before you get to Jamie Lee Curtis, resplendent in Linda's luscious, vibrant, real-estate-peddling pantsuits, with round glasses and a cap of perfectly kept, snow-white hair. The work of assembling this group is a credit to casting director Mary Vernieu, and a reminder of what an art it is to find the right people for the right parts.

Knives Out is also one of the best-dressed movies you'll see this year, both in terms of actual wardrobe from costume designer Jenny Eagan and from production designer David Crank. This is a very rich family that, as some rich families do, often looks both indulgent and stupefyingly tacky. Their family home is similarly luxurious and weird at the same time, its elaborate rugs and ornate everything speaking to both the family's excesses and its overly complicated existence.

The same goes for the things they are given to say. Johnson's dialogue is sharp and filled with quotable lines no fair review would quote, and sometimes, just as the story gets very big and broad, a joke will go by very quietly, almost under the breath. Everyone in this cast can nail a line reading to the wall, including a couple of folks — Don Johnson for one, Daniel Craig for another — who have maybe never been given such a good workout for their comic chops.

Move over, Captain America: Chris Evans in this cable-knit sweater may be Peak Chris Evans. Claire Folger/Lionsgate hide caption

Move over, Captain America: Chris Evans in this cable-knit sweater may be Peak Chris Evans.

That goes for Chris Evans as well, even though he's spent the past several years in some of the most popular movies of all time. He was allowed to be funny in a wholesome sort of way in his Captain America days, but it's a special treat to see him tear right into this rich-brat bit, both preternaturally handsome and cheerfully obnoxious, a one-man cable-knit charm offensive, emphasis very often on "offensive."

What Rian Johnson has done here is a masterful feat of balance, staying within the rules of the creaky-old-house genre but making just enough adjustments to stay clear of story trouble. Because story trouble isn't uncommon in a film like this: There's only so long it's fun to watch people accuse each other while clues accumulate and red herrings fly by before you start to want something to happen, something to be revealed. In Knives Out , there's not just one information dump; there are several. The twists are plentiful enough that even if some ungenerous person tried to spoil the film for you, they couldn't really; you'd still be missing chapters upon chapters of necessary information.

If it seems to you that this film has much in common with Clue , Johnson knows it. You feel echoes of Murder, She Wrote ? He knows. You think Craig sounds like Foghorn Leghorn? Yup, Johnson knows that too. (Although Craig says he based the voice on historian Shelby Foote.) Self-aware but not self-conscious, Knives Out acknowledges its debts to the trappings of mystery and frolics in them like a field of clover.

At the same time, touches of a contemporary consciousness drive the story. Marta is "the help" to many of the Thrombeys, and the family treats her with a sharply observed combination of affection, condescension and dismissal, provided she stays in what they consider her place. Given how big the other performances are, de Armas and her work here, which has both comedy and stillness, could have been swallowed up. But they aren't at all. She's often the most compelling person in the story, even as she's doing the least. (Not hard, when everyone else is, as they say, doing the most.)

It is always a delight to see someone joyfully, efficiently, and indelibly demolish any alleged hard barrier between art and entertainment. Knives Out is Rian Johnson's salute to mysteries, but it is also his latest demonstration of his uncommon mastery of the idea that you can — that you should — artfully entertain an audience with loving attention to detail; that it is just as high a purpose as to artfully devastate or confound them. It's one of the best movies of the year, and one of the most purely enjoyable, as well.

Knives Out Review

29 Nov 2019

How does one let off steam after a gruelling experience making one of the most anticipated films of all time, and the even more gruelling experience of weathering feedback of that film from people with Twitter handles such as @sithmaster81? Easy: you kill someone. After sending his camera whizzing around the galaxy in The Last Jedi , Rian Johnson ’s next step has been to go smaller, much smaller, largely confining his follow-up movie to the creaky corridors and dim chambers of a Massachusetts mansion. The result, Knives Out , is a sly, wry and nimble homage to the murder mysteries of yesteryear, with a modern spin. And it’s exactly as fun as you’d hope.

It may be littered with references to classic mysteries — here a clip of Murder She Wrote on a TV, there a namecheck for John Watson. But it never feels like a creaky throwback, à la the recent redo of Murder On The Orient Express . For one, it’s set in the modern day, with one conversation overtly alluding to Trump (though he’s never mentioned by name) with such lines as, “They’re putting children in cages!” and, “Take off your red cap, Richard.” Among the roll-call of suspects is a Twitter troll, the kind of man-baby who probably gets upset about porgs. This is a world where iPhones exist, and the musical Hamilton , and, as one unexpected one-liner reveals, the Edgar Wright film Baby Driver .

At the same time, Johnson knows not to wander too far from the tropes of such classic whodunnits as Sleuth and Deathtrap , instead delighting in cranking them up to delirious heights. The Gothic abode in which his suspects are confined looks like it’s been interior-designed by Nicolas Cage on a spending spree. Owned by the mysterious, murdered murder-mystery writer Harlan Thrombey ( Plummer ), it’s decked out with such ghoulish accoutrements as crystal skulls, creepy oil paintings, art that resembles giant eyeballs and, yes, an enormous ring of stabby implements. (Set decorator David Schlesinger vies for the title of crew MVP, along with costume designer Jenny Eagan, responsible for fitting out the cast with the year’s most resplendent knitwear.)

It quickly becomes apparent that Johnson has more than daggers and clues on his mind: the mansion is a stand-in for America itself.

Matching the overblown old-schoolness of the sets is the film’s detective. He may have been profiled in The New Yorker , but Daniel Craig ’s Benoit Blanc (“The last of the gentlemen sleuths”) is an enjoyably ridiculous, tweed-clad creation who seems to have been summoned from the pages of an antique pulp novel. His Deep South accent is pure bouillabaisse . He stands in shadows, plinks single keys on pianos, and sits staring into fires. He says things like, “Something is afoot with this whole affair.” Craig has rarely been this much fun, and a return outing for the character would be most welcome. Suggestion: a movie that pits him against Craig’s peroxided felon Joe Bang from Logan Lucky .

Blanc, though, isn’t the movie’s core character. The starry ensemble cast gleefully embody the various vipers who have gathered at the house, desperate for a share of Harlan’s wealth. Toni Collette is particularly memorable as hippy-dippy Instagram influencer Joni, as is Chris Evans as family black sheep Ransom, a foul-mouthed freeloader whose very scarves look dickish. But Johnson’s masterstroke is to tell the tale through the perspective of an outsider, South American caregiver Marta ( Ana de Armas ), who was Harlan’s closest confidant and who becomes Benoit’s erstwhile sidekick.

Through her, and de Armas’ superb performance, it quickly becomes apparent that Johnson has more than daggers and clues on his mind: the mansion is a stand-in for America itself, with its factions, institutionalised racism (none of the rapacious clan can agree on which country exactly Marta is from) and many shades of venality. The political subtext is clear but not laboured, exposing a whole different kind of foul play.

It’s not a perfect crime. With a cast-list that’s unnecessarily large (Benoit even gets two cop underlings, neither of whom make much of an impression), a few of the actors are wasted, and some of the dialogue suffers from over-snark. But it comes close enough to be a major crowdpleaser, a snaky and sumptuous winter treat with a nice line in acidic zingers. Over to you, Jason Bateman and Clue .

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All-star murder mystery Knives Out is a bloody clever good time: Review

Movies with sprawling, starry casts nearly always seem like a treat for the actors in them; a sort of celebrity summer camp, with paychecks. That giddiness doesn't necessarily translate, though, to the common people on the other side of the screen. God bless director Rian Johnson then for bringing so much equal-opportunity fun to Knives Out , a silly, stabby, supremely clever whodunnit that only really suffers from having too little room for each of its talented players to fully register in the film's limited run time.

Those actors include (deep breath): Christopher Plummer as wildly successful murder-mystery writer and family patriarch Harlan Thrombey, whose untimely demise on the night of his 85th birthday party triggers everything that follows; his tightly-wound eldest daughter and son-in-law, Linda and Richard ( Jamie Lee Curtis and Don Johnson ), and their wayward offspring, Ransom ( Chris Evans ); brooding middle son Walt ( Michael Shannon ), who helps run the family publishing business; dippy lifestyle guru Joni ( Toni Collette ) and her vaping co-ed daughter, Meg ( 13 Reasons Why 's Katherine Langford ); Harlan's faithful nurse-companion Marta (Ana de Armas).

There's also Sorry to Bother You 's Lakeith Stanfield as a low-key police detective, and Daniel Craig as the fancy private P.I. brought in under special, anonymous circumstances to audit the investigation. He sounds like Foghorn Leghorn on Quaaludes when he talks, but he sees things others don't. And he quickly zeroes in Marta as his key to the case, in part because she cannot tell a lie — literally: Untruths make her projectile vomit.

The script, also by Johnson ( Star Wars: The Last Jedi , and the upcoming Untitled Star Wars Trilogy: Episode I ) lovingly teases the tropes of classic murder mysteries, while simultaneously blowing the dust off them with timely jokes about Game of Thrones , Hamilton , and dark-web incels.

Inevitably, some cast members rise to the top: Colette's fluttering, moon-juiced Jodi deserves her own Goop-sponsored sequel, or at least a half-hour pilot on Bravo. Evans is perfectly smarmy as the swaggering trust-fund kid who floats above it all, and Craig honestly seems to be having more fun with his Colonel Sanders gentleman than he has in the last four Bond films combined.

It's not too much of a spoiler to say that lot actually hinges on the lovely, wide-eyed de Armas ( Blade Runner 2049 ), who maintains a sweetly implacable presence, even as the script gleefully digs into a running gag about her family origins (she's from Uruguay! No, Paraguay! Guatemala! Brazil?) at the oblivious Thrombeys' expense.

The exact who of the dunnit, when it finally comes, is unabashedly corny but satisfying, too; a callback to all the classic wrap-ups of the genre, with a pitch-perfect, thoroughly modern final shot on par with that of one of the other great black comedies of this year, Ready or Not. But to reveal any more than that, of course, would be a crime. B+

( Knives Out premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and will be released in theaters Nov. 27)

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‘Knives Out’ Review: Rian Johnson’s Hugely Entertaining Whodunnit Offers Sharp Takedown of White Entitlement

David ehrlich.

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Rian Johnson ’s “ Knives Out ” — a crackling, devious, and hugely satisfying old-school whodunnit with a modern twist — wants you to know that it takes place in the world of today. In fact, it wants you to know that it wants you to know. Hardly a minute goes by without some reference to the here and now of it all. When legendary crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead the morning after his 85th birthday, it’s as if the past dies with him and the present comes rushing in to replace it, eager to claim the inheritance to which it always felt entitled.

Walt (Michael Shannon), who runs his late father’s publishing house, can be heard yammering on about selling all the movie rights to Netflix; technically that moment takes place in one of the film’s many seamless flashbacks, but it’s not as if Harlan’s kids were ever shy about their intentions. When famed detective Benoit Blanc ( Daniel Craig ) shows up to sleuth out the killer, an awed member of the Thrombey clan exclaims “I read a tweet about a New Yorker article about you.” In a very funny movie where even the most throwaway jokes are later exhumed with vital importance, it’s no surprise that the profile in question eventually resurfaces as one of the script’s innumerable plot points. References to everything from Juuling to “Baby Driver” are strewn around the rest of the story; not since “Hamilton” has a juicy slice of theatrical entertainment been so openly determined to bridge the gap between old history and new language.

There’s a “Hamilton” reference too, of course, and that might be the most important nod of all. It comes at the expense of Marta (Ana de Armas), Harlan’s sweet-natured South American caregiver, when one of the clueless young cops who nips at Benoit’s heels declares “Immigrants: They get the job done.” The first time someone takes note of Marta, however, they refer to her as the help. In fairness, she’s the only one who doesn’t hurt. By contrast, every single member of Harlan’s star-studded family is out for blood. As soon as the patriarch’s body is discovered in the attic hideaway above his mansion, all of the children, grandkids, and in-laws who lived under its roof are ready to point fingers (things get especially heated once his death stops looking like a suicide).

Some of them are more likable than others, but none of them are easy to love. Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis) built her own business from the ground up — she only needed a $1,000,000 loan from her daddy to do it. Joni (Toni Collette) is basically a glorified Instagram influencer, and that’s probably working out great. Linda’s husband Richard (Don Johnson) is cheating on her. Even worse: He’s a Trump supporter. Walt’s teenage son Jacob (Jaeden Martell) may be the only other self-identified Republican in the family, but he’s basically a mini Ben Shapiro. And it’s not like the rest of the family are doing all that much to separate themselves from MAGA politics. They tell Marta that she’s “part of the family,” but when it comes to splitting up Harlan’s will, well, things are going to get complicated. Let’s just say that the “I would have voted for Obama for a third term” energy is strong with this crowd, every single member of which feels like they deserve what’s coming to them. And do they — they just don’t know what that is yet.

Picking up where this summer’s (much bloodier) “Ready or Not” left off, “Knives Out” is a story about people who’ve convinced themselves that being rich is their birthright; that they’re entitled to their wealth because they’ve never had to work for it. But the movie is set in a changing world that’s tearing up tradition however it can, and the film is genius in how it slowly embodies that change, taking one of the dustiest of genres and reupholstering it from the inside out. This isn’t just “Murder on the Orient Express” with cell phones, but rather a room-shaking crowdpleaser that reckons with how fresh Agatha Christie’s books felt to those who read them in their time. What starts as a simple murder-mystery soon evolves into a brilliant, almost relentlessly fun examination of how the game has changed in a country where victory can’t afford to be as one-sided as it used to be.

Given the ridiculous depth of the film’s celebrity cast (all of whom seem to be having oodles of fun), it might be surprising that the relatively unfamous de Armas emerges as the protagonist. Phenomenal in “Blade Runner 2049” and even the recently premiered “Wasp Network,” de Armas has never had so much weight to carry on her shoulders, but Marta becomes a joy on the strength of her brute sincerity. She’s a pure soul — she literally cannot tell a lie without puking — and that makes her Blanc’s most invaluable ally.

The two of them are a sublime pair, as Craig’s scenery-chewing performance makes him the perfect foil for de Armas’ eminent sweetness (and the scenery here makes for a five-star meal, as production designer David Crank turns the Thrombey house into a palpable maze of strange angles and secret passages, as though someone built a mansion by using a “Clue” board game for blueprints). It’s enough to make the Bond actor’s yee-haw prisoner turn in “Logan Lucky” feel like a warm-up routine; by the time Craig gives a rambling monologue about donut holes that people will be insufferably misquoting for the next six months or 10 years, you’ll have long forgotten that he’s ever played 007.

At one point, that Foghorn Leghorn schtick is described as “CSI: KFC,” as the black sheep of the Thrombey family comes sauntering in around the halfway point. His name is Ransom, and he’s played by Steve Rogers himself, Chris Evans . If “Avengers: Endgame” found him becoming “America’s Ass,” here Evans gets to moonlight as “America’s Asshole.” He’s the only one of Harlan’s kids who’s never even tried to find a job, and he enters the movie like a sarcastic agent of chaos. But, as with everything in “Knives Out,” there’s more to him than meets the eye, and when a huge twist at the end of the first act reframes the entire mystery — and puts Marta right in the middle — Ransom emerges as the only member of Harlan’s kids to share his heart. Love and money may not be the same thing, after all.

Or maybe they’re even more closely related than we thought. As the movie stops to clear its throat and reset the board every 20 minutes or so, “Knives Out” keeps you guessing. Hot off the best “Star Wars” movie ever made and seemingly just entering his creative stride, Johnson has devised a murder-mystery that’s eager to defy your expectations, but unwilling to betray your trust. The film may be more smart than stylish (sharp home décor and that jangly, ticklishly fun Nathan Johnson score notwithstanding), and it may opt for a reasonable outcome over an overwhelmingly shocking one, but “Knives Out” doesn’t let the element of surprise ruin a good story. From its opening moments to its all-timer of a final shot, the film’s greatest pleasures are character-driven, and those pleasures even manage to survive a hectic second act that spends most of its energy laying down track for the third.

Fittingly enough, “Knives Out” is too much fun in the moment for you to dwell on what’s come before (or to be too distracted guessing at where it’s going). Even if you do somehow manage to piece the whole thing together in advance, there’s no way of predicting the joy of watching it all unfold. As playful as Wes Anderson and as literal as James Gray, Johnson has finally devised an original story that’s fueled by his natural gamesmanship — one that doesn’t feel like it’s suffocated by its own design. This is a movie about how the future of this country belongs to those who don’t feel entitled to it, and there’s something beautiful about how it makes that very idea feel like a victory for everyone who’s watching.

“Knives Out” premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. Lionsgate will release it in theaters on November 27.

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• Knives Out is a delightful Agatha Christie-style whodunnit made for 2019 America

Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more star in the latest caper from Rian Johnson.

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Share All sharing options for: Knives Out is a delightful Agatha Christie-style whodunnit made for 2019 America

Whodunnits in the vein of Agatha Christie — like Knives Out , a romping delight from genre-bending Last Jedi auteur Rian Johnson — require a degree of prejudice in the reader in order to work properly. Characters are slotted into a type, usually owing to their occupation, nationality, or social standing, and then the fun of the story comes from how people act against (or within) type, subverting our guesses.

Christie, of course, was working in England a century ago; Johnson’s story is set in contemporary, richly autumnal patrician Massachusetts, in the home of a hugely successful mystery writer who has, unfortunately, turned up dead. And because this is America in 2019, the prejudices and privileges displayed by the family vying for his money are uniquely American, too.

But Knives Out , being a whodunnit, is best if you go in knowing as little as possible. The twists aren’t aids to telling the story, they are the story. It’s the most finely tuned version of a murder mystery you could hope for, with joyous performances and style in spades. So if you don’t want a hint of a spoiler, stop here. If you don’t mind a bit of background, carry on.

Knives Out is mostly just fun, but it lodges some barbs, too

Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) built his fortune on the mystery novels he wrote, so he’s clearly a man of great imagination, but his family is not quite as bright. There’s business-minded daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis), her husband Richard (Don Johnson), and their mean, terrible son Ransom (Chris Evans). There’s Harlan’s son Walt (Michael Shannon), who runs the family publishing company, and Joni (Toni Colette), the widowed daughter-in-law, who enthusiastically shows how compassionate she is toward people the rest of the family sniffs at, but also is happy to take the family’s money. Two more grandkids — priggish alt-right shitposter Jacob (Jaeden Martell) and self-righteous Meg (Katherine Langford) round out the pack. Everybody, to a one, sucks.

Harlan died under mysterious circumstances, which only his longtime nurse Marta (Ana de Armas) knows anything about, and a trio of men arrive to investigate: two police detectives (Lakeith Stanfield and Noah Segan) and one private detective (Daniel Craig, sporting, as one character puts it, a Foghorn Leghorn accent). They try to dig into the story but it keeps slipping out of their grasp.

As it does for the audience, too. If Knives Out moved even 3 percent more slowly than it does, there’s a good chance it would be easier to anticipate what’s going to happen next — a few times I felt like I was on the verge of discovery, but as fast as you can start to fit the pieces together, a new gap appears. It’s confident and exciting, with performances that suggest a cast having the time of their lives on set. (It’s always nice to see Daniel Craig spring into antic electricity outside the confines of his brooding James Bond; as for Chris Evans, his post-Captain America life seems to suit him nicely.)

Knives Out is primarily splendid revelry rather than satire; it’s not particularly sophisticated social critique to suggest that sometimes the scions of the very wealthy are also ungrateful wretches with delusions of grandeur. (That’s been going on in literature for a very long time.)

But that doesn’t keep the movie from lodging a few barbs between the ribs for rueful laughs, as much at the performatively woke as the hatefully racist. The whole family proclaims their love for Marta but nobody manages to remember which South American country she’s from, and when things start to get serious they’re more than willing to turn on her. The Thrombey crew includes people who can pivot from complaining about immigrants to quoting Hamilton on a dime — a version of the sort of clueless liberalism that Bradley Whitford’s “I would have voted for Obama a third time” Get Out line immortalized. It also includes a kid someone describes as a “literal Nazi.”

In this way, Knives Out bears some striking similarities to Ready or Not , which came out in August 2019, only weeks before Knives Out ’s Toronto premiere. That one’s a horror film, but it concerns a young woman, an outsider, who’s drawn into a greedy family’s sprawling estate, only to discover that those who perform kindness can turn on her in an instant.

But while Ready or Not posits wealth and privilege as a violent horror show, Knives Out paints it as farce. The Thrombey family’s mythos about itself and its “ancestral home” is silly; its members are worthy of ridicule, not because they’re wealthy but because they refuse to admit their wealth comes from anything but their own merit. Their parroting of talking points that only benefit them, their belief in their own superiority, their self-delusional arrogance — that’s what’s ridiculous. They’ve willingly slotted themselves into caricatures that are all too familiar today, and the movie plays on those gleefully.

So, couching their story in a rambling, romping murder mystery turns them into entertainment for us rather than us into cogs in the wheel for them. In this case, it’s their blind prejudices, not ours, that lead them astray.

And it’s all done with such a light touch that you can’t help thinking Knives Out is really an adaptation of one of Harlan’s mysteries, which, it turns out, it sort of is. It’s a worthy tribute to Agatha Christie, a light but pointed rebuke, and a delectable time at the movies, too.

Knives Out premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. It opens in theaters on November 27.

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The 10 Best Kung Fu Movie Stars Of All Time

Horizon movie update makes us feel better about kevin costner choosing his new western over yellowstone, what happened to the blue wizards after lord of the rings, knives out leads viewers on a thrilling and wickedly fun ride as the entire ensemble offers breathtaking performances in this whodunnit mystery..

Though Rian Johnson is now perhaps best known for having directed Star Wars: The Last Jedi , the writer-director cut his teeth in Hollywood on the likes of the neo-noir  Brick , comedy caper The Brothers Bloom and sci-fi crime drama Looper . Across all his films, Johnson incorporates story elements that subvert expectations, delivering twists viewers won't see coming. That's all to say, Knives Out  fits perfectly within his wheelhouse as a modern murder mystery whodunnit thriller. Written, directed and produced by Johnson, the filmmaker also surrounds himself with an astonishingly talented ensemble cast, who execute his vision with masterful precision.  Knives Out leads viewers on a thrilling and wickedly fun ride as the entire ensemble offers breathtaking performances in this whodunnit mystery.

In Knives Out , detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is hired to look into the death of wealthy crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), who died on the night of his 85th birthday. Assembled at the house is his dysfunctional family, which includes Harlan's oldest daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her husband Richard (Don Johnson); Harlan's son Walt (Michael Shannon), his wife Donna (Riki Lindhome) and son Jacob (Jaeden Martell); Harlan's daughter-in-law Joni (Toni Collette) and her daughter Meg (Katherine Langford); and Harlan's nurse and friend Marta (Ana de Armas). Linda and Richard's son Ransom (Chris Evans) arrives later, just in time for the will reading. Though Detective Lieutenant Elliot (LaKeith Stanfield) is quick to rule Harlan's death a suicide, detective Blanc is sure there's more going on at the Thrombey household and he's determined to find the truth.

Johnson's particular talent of keeping audiences on their toes is on full display with Knives Out , which follows a fairly standard formula for murder mystery movies - in that the viewers are shown little bits about the night of the murder as the mystery is slowly unraveled on screen. The filmmaker uses a deft hand in both setting up and pulling off the twists in Knives Out , laying the foundation for them long before viewers even see them coming. Astute audiences, especially those that revel in solving a murder mystery plot before the characters on screen, will pick up on the clues, but Johnson uses their expectations against them to keep even those viewers guessing. One particular instance where Johnson subverts expectations is in the character of detective Benoit Blanc, portrayed by a wonderfully theatrical Craig with an exaggerated southern drawl, whose entire involvement in the case offers a secondary mystery to Harlan's death. Altogether, Knives Out showcases Johnson's exceptional artistry as a writer and director, with his particularly exceptional skills demonstrated in this whodunnit.

In a film with plenty of colorful characters, Craig's Blanc is an energetic scene-stealer, even as de Armas' Marta is presented more as the film's protagonist. The actress and her more understated performance work well to make Marta the most grounded character in Knives Out , contrasting well against the more campy, over-the-top members of the Thrombey family. Collette's Joni is another scene-stealer, dropping a surprising number of one-liners, as Curtis's Linda is a more imposing woman - though her performance is just as fun. Meanwhile, Shannon brings an underlying menace to Walt that gives the character much-needed depth, and Don Johnson's Richard is the purposefully stereotypical rich white man. Evans shines with a deliciously fun turn as Ransom, showcasing a delightful range in his acting following his departure from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Because of the extent of the cast, some of the other players don't get as much to work with (Stanfield, Langford and Martell in particular), as their characters are largely used to move the plot forward. Still, that's bound to happen with this big of an ensemble, and everyone gets at least one moment to stand out.

In Knives Out , Rian Johnson sets out to write and direct a murder mystery whodunnit with plenty of twists and turns - and the filmmaker delivers exactly that. With the help of his incredibly talented ensemble cast, Johnson pulls off another phenomenally entertaining entry in his filmography. Further,  Knives Out provides one of the most enjoyable movie experiences of 2019, keeping audiences engaged and guessing about the central mystery until the very end, while the cast offers their own uniquely enthralling performances. As such, Knives Out is a must-see, especially for fans of Johnson's work and/or murder mysteries. The film may not require a full IMAX experience, but it's certainly worth seeing with a big audience. And, of course, viewers will want to remain as unspoiled as possible going into this twisty whodunnit.

Every aspect of Knives Out - from Johnson's directing and Craig's southern drawl to the satisfyingly chilling score and intricately detailed set design - comes together to form this lush, captivating murder mystery. Knives Out manages to combine the campy fun of Clue with a new and carefully crafted mystery, plus infuse some commentary about everything from detective stories to modern American politics, all while allowing Johnson's filmmaking voice to shine through. In the end, Knives Out is a wickedly fun masterpiece.

Knives Out  is now playing in U.S. theaters. It is 130 minutes long and rated PG-13 for thematic elements including brief violence, some strong language, sexual references and drug material.

Let us know what you thought of the film in the comments section!

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• November 27, 2019
• Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc; Chris Evans as Ransom Drysdale; Ana de Armas as Marta Cabrera; Jamie Lee Curtis as Linda Drysdale; Michael Shannon as Walt Thrombey; Don Johnson as Richard Drysdale; Toni Collette as Joni Thrombey; LaKeith Stanfield as Lieutenant Elliott; Christopher Plummer as Harlan Thrombey; Katherine Langford as Meg Thrombey; Jaeden Martell as Jacob Thrombey; Riki Lindhome as Donna Thrombey; Edi Patterson as Fran

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• Rian Johnson

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Movie review.

Well, that could’ve gone better.

Harlan Thrombey, a mystery writer of renown, knew his 85th birthday party was going to be more difficult than some. Thrombey family get-togethers are always a little trying, even under ideal circumstances. It’s not that Harlan doesn’t love his family: of course he does. It’s just that all of his kids and grandkids can be … well, jerks.

Oh, overachieving eldest daughter Linda is all right, albeit a little high strung. But her husband, Richard, is something else again. Their aimless, shiftless son, Ransom, clearly takes after his pops—though Harlan has to admit that he sees of a lot of himself in the rascally scalawag, too. All the worst parts.

Harlan has worked closely with son Walt for years. He runs Harlan’s self-made publishing company, in fact. After Harlan writes a book, Walt sees that it gets to market. But let’s be honest: Harlan’s books pretty much sell themselves. Stick a trained koala in Walt’s publishing chair, and the sales wouldn’t dip.

Joni married into the Thrombey family (her husband died some time ago) and, let’s face it, her whole flower-child shtick can wear a little thin on the rest of the clan. And while Harlan dutifully pays tuition for Meg (Joni’s daughter), you’d think the girl would graduate one of these days, wouldn’t you?

Yes, Harlan knew he was going to need to have some frank conversations with his dear relations at his 85th birthday party. He said as much to his young nurse, Marta.

He never expected to wind up dead.

But there he is—sprawled out on the couch of his study, throat cut, knife on the floor, blood everywhere.

The police say it’s suicide, but Benoit Blanc—a mysterious detective who swoops onto the scene—isn’t so sure. Someone’s hiding something. In fact, several someones may be hiding several somethings.

But Blanc knows that one of them, Marta, won’t be able to hide much of anything. She literally cannot tell a lie. Or, at least, not without tossing her cookies.

Yes, Harlan Thrombey’s 85th birthday party could’ve gone better. He’ll never see another. But if Blanc has his way, someone will celebrate what would’ve been Harlan’s 86th annum behind bars.

Positive Elements

You’re not going to find a lot of role models in this Agatha Christie-like murder mystery. Everyone has a motive to kill the old man, and most seem to have the (ahem) stomach to potentially do so. And honestly, because this is a murder mystery, I’m loathe to go into too much detail on anything . But I can say that Blanc finds someone with a good, even sacrificial, heart in the sprawling Thrombey mansion, and that heart winds up being an important part of the puzzle.

Thrombey, you could argue, administers some tough love to his more wayward family members. And while alive, he does his best to save someone from (what he sees as) an unfair fate.

Spiritual Elements

Marta lives with her mother and sister, and the whole family seems to be Catholic. We see a statue of Mary in the background of Marta’s home, and a cross dangles from the dashboard of Marta’s car.

Joni chants and meditates in her bedroom.

Sexual Content

Someone is having an affair: We see incriminating pics of a kiss. Walt’s 13-year-old son, Jacob, reveals that he was in a bathroom for quite some time (where he heard something incriminating), and some speculate that he was masturbating. (One alleges that he was doing so “joylessly” to “dead deer,” for what that’s worth.) Family members insinuate—sometimes crassly—that Marta was having sex with Harlan.

Violent Content

Harlan’s throat is cut: We don’t see the knife slice the skin, but a flashback still suggests the horror of the act.

Overdoses of medication are key to the story’s plot. Family members fight, mostly verbally; but sometimes the arguments threaten to crest into physical violence.

A building is burned down. A car chase leads to some minor property and vehicular damage. In the background, we hear audio from a salacious television show graphically describing a murder and the mutilation of the murder victim. We see a dead body, along with someone who’s on the verge of death.

Crude or Profane Language

Two f-words and nearly 30 s-words. We also hear “a–,” “b–ch,” “b–tard,” “d–n,” “h—” and “pr–k.” God’s name is misused at least 20 times, five of those paired with “d–n.” Jesus’ name is abused a half-dozen, too. Someone uses an obscene gesture.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Marta routinely injects Harlan with medication, including some morphine on occasion—which both jokingly refer to as “the good stuff.” (Marta tells the police that it’s a small dose that helps Harlan sleep.) Fran, the housekeeper for Harlan’s mansion, apparently smokes marijuana: We see her stash of joints, one of which Meg smokes and offers to Marta. (Marta, it seems, sometimes partakes, but she’s apparently too distraught to use this particular evening.) Characters smoke tobacco, too—both in the form of cigars and cigarettes.

Someone makes reference to Ransom using whatever “designer drug” is in fashion these days. Walt, who’s clearly drunk, talks with his father during Harlan’s birthday bash. (Other people, it’s insinuated, over-imbibe as well.) People drink wine, whiskey and champagne. Two characters sit at a pub table with several empty beer bottles.

Other Negative Elements

As mentioned, Marta cannot lie without vomiting, and she becomes a de facto—and gross—lie detector of sorts. We see her toss her cookies several times, including once all over the face of another character. (In that scene, the vomit is visible; in others, we mainly hear her as she kneels over a toilet or urn or, in one case, a plastic glass.)

As you might expect in a movie built around myriad deceptions, we see many characters lie and attempt to mislead either the police or each other—sometimes going to extreme lengths to do so. Also important: The movie encourages us at times to root against the police. Family members, we learn, have taken advantage of Harlan’s financial generosity.

The Thrombey family can be offensively patronizing toward Marta, whose mother immigrated from some strangely unspecified Latin American country. (Most say she’s like part of the family, but no one knows where she actually immigrated from). Issues related to immigration, both legal and illegal, pop up often. (We hear someone express a great deal of fear that “millions of Mexicans” are, the character believes, taking over the country.) Jacob (Walt’s son) is frequently called a “Nazi.”

It says something about entertainment today that drawing room-style murder mysteries are considered pretty innocent. Never mind the dead body on the floor: Mysteries where the brilliant detective gathers all the suspects together and unveils the murderer is something your grandmother reads—and she thinks chess is too violent.

Knives Out layers on a bit more content than your typical Agatha Christie story, but only by degree, not a quantum leap into the swamp. We hear rumors and evidence of sexual dalliances, but we don’t see the dalliances themselves onscreen. Murder is, of course, part of the story—but it’s treated less graphically than a typical episode or your favorite CSI clone.

No, if I was going to gather our typical band of content culprits into a library and point to the worst of the perps, I’d jab a finger in language’s direction. “The f-word done it!” I’d shout, “And the s-word, too!” And no matter how they might profanely protest, I’d only have to play the movie over again to prove the point definitively.

Knives Out comes with a killer cast and a clever script. For fans of the murder-mystery genre—and I am, admittedly, one—this film offers its share of gratifying twists and even a rare moral of sorts. But when it comes time to cuff this flick, the charge will undoubtedly be murder most foul … words .

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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Movie Review: Knives Out (2019)

• Vincent Gaine
• Movie Reviews
• --> January 4, 2020

The whodunnit provides a certain kind of cinematic pleasure. The crime which is never straightforward. The host of suspects, all with motives and sometimes conflicting alibis. The elaborately twisting plot where half the fun is not knowing and the other half finding out. Through the decades and across media from literature to film to television and back again, the whodunnit genre has merged mystery with ensemble drama, personal drama with social commentary, combining these diverse elements to give the audience an enjoyable time.

Rian Johnson’s Knives Out gleefully embraces these tropes, creating a lively whodunnit in the classic style of “ Murder on the Orient Express ” and its ilk. Johnson further enervates his film with a modern sensibility, ensuring that Knives Out is far from dusty or old-fashioned. The discovery of deceased Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer, “ All the Money in the World ”), bestselling mystery author and publisher, leads to an initial verdict of suicide. Nonetheless, police detectives Lieutenant Elliott (LaKeith Stanfield, “ Sorry to Bother You ”) and Trooper Wagner (Noah Segan, “ The Mind’s Eye ”) begin their investigation, aided by the enigmatic private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, “ Spectre ”). The subsequent interviews create a picture of an extremely dysfunctional extended family as well as a multifaceted series of events that preceded the death of Harlan.

There is great fun to be had watching the various characters declaring their innocence, even though they are not being accused. Their defensiveness speaks volumes about their fundamental insecurities and discomfort over any questioning of their privileged positions, making the film a damning indictment of the 1%. Linda Drysdale’s (Jamie Lee Curtis, “ Halloween ”) withering matriarch and Richard Drysdale’s (Don Johnson, “ Book Club ”) would-be alpha male offer differing attempts at authority, Richard’s bluster easily overcome by Linda’s supercilious sneer (not that the investigators are fazed). Walt Thrombey’s (Michael Shannon, “ The Shape of Water ”) spineless non-favorite son and Joni’s (Toni Collette, “ Hereditary ”) modern-day hippie provide a further contrast, one desperate to please while conspicuously hating that he does so; the other projecting a blasé attitude that is as transparent as it is flamboyant. The younger generation are represented by Meg (Katherine Langford, “Love, Simon”), a fairly hopeless hope for the future and Jacob (Jaeden Martell, “ It: Chapter Two ”), a contemporary neo-Nazi. Meanwhile, the oldest generation, Great Nana Wanetta (K Callan, “Midnight Clear”) is an amusing if incomprehensible observer. Ransom Thrombey (Chris Evans, “ Avengers: Endgame ”), sporting some very fine knitwear, offers a sarcastic and cynical commentary on his fairly despicable family, his forthrightness a refreshing contrast to the dishonesty of his relatives.

But the true center of the drama and the viewer’s anchor character is Marta Cabrera (Ana De Arma, “ Blade Runner 2049 ”), devoted nurse to Harlan and the last person, presumably, to see him alive. Marta is the first major character that the film introduces, and her innocent looks and seeming naïveté are immediately endearing. Marta exhibits what appears to be genuine compassion and conscience, these traits distinguishing her from the Thrombey/Drysdales as surely as her social, racial and national status. Marta’s in-depth knowledge of the family in general and Harlan in particular instantly attracts Benoit’s attention. Furthermore, Benoit rapidly suspects foul play, but as he declares in his molasses thick accent, it is hard to eliminate suspects.

The film’s set up is ripe for intrigue, including the fractious character relations and the turns and swerves of the mystery, at one point given physical form with a thoroughly incompetent car chase. Johnson skillfully interweaves these elements, peeling away layers of deceit and resentment as Benoit and his reluctant partner Marta (whom he dubs “Watson” to his Sherlock Holmes) fill in the hole at the center of the “donut,” as Benoit describes the mystery. Witticisms like this abound in Knives Out , both in terms of writing and direction. The dialogue is razor sharp, the cogs of the narrative interlock like a finely tuned Swiss watch, and Johnson’s direction smartly propels the viewer along at just the right pace.

The extensive cast are all on fine form, belying the common belief that the more fun people have making a film the less fun it is to watch. Curtis and Johnson’s jostling for dominance makes them a great double act, while Collette turns in a bravura display of middle-aged ditziness. Shannon is a delight in his cast against type role, as he typically plays menacing and imposing figures. Here his large frame seems compressed by the repression and frustration of Walt, unable to express himself even in moments of abject fury. There is something of a contest in terms of chewing the scenery, but Daniel Craig wins hands down, his laconic Benoit showing flashes of impassioned engagement, both for the mystery but also for human compassion, especially in relation to Marta. De Armas matches her more seasoned co-star point for point, her large eyes expressing fear and vulnerability, yet with a steely resolve so we doubt her commitment to Harlan and his legacy, as well as basic human decency. The double act between Benoit and Marta provides an emotional heart to the drama, ensuring that it is neither a cold piecing together of facts nor a knockabout farce. Instead, Knives Out is an engaging journey into intriguing characters and a mystery as richly textured as the grand mansion where it all takes place. It is also very funny as, while it would be misleading to describe the film as a comedy, there is a great deal of humor, from the bickering of the family to the absurdity of their wheeling and dealing, and a recurring gag about a gag reflex that never outstays its welcome.

On top of, or perhaps beneath, all this wry structuring and flamboyant performance, Knives Out offers sly satire. The neoliberal appearances of the Thrombeys/Drysdales rapidly give way to self-interest and patronizing attitudes, as they regularly treat Marta as a servant and their actual servants like dirt. Topics including feminism, the environment, immigration and white supremacy are thrown around with equal contempt, as the extended family’s interest quickly turns to the matter of inheritance. Beautifully, Johnson does not allow the politics to overwhelm the drama, integrating his social commentary into plot pursuance and character development. Recurring tropes of actual knives, food, game pieces, dogs, and coffee mugs pepper the film, all carefully slotting into place with never a wasted moment. Come the end, the viewer is likely to feel a delightful sense of glee, their intellect exercised and their ribs tickled. We know who has done what, not least that Mr. Johnson has done a damn fine movie.

Tagged: detective , family , inheritance , investigation , murder , wealth

Dr. Vincent M. Gaine is a film and television researcher. His first book, Existentialism and Social Engagement in the Films of Michael Mann was published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2011. His work on film and media has been published in Cinema Journal and The Journal of Technology , Theology and Religion , as well as edited collections including The 21st Century Superhero and The Directory of World Cinema .

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Knives Out (2019) Review

EVERYONE HAS A MOTIVE, 

No one has a clue.

In the many genre realms of cinematic storytelling, the classic narrative of a “whodunit” has been a time-honored plot device; providing a dubious looking into mystery and intrigue. The definition of a “whodunit” is a story or play about a murder in which the identity of the murder is not revealed until the end, with the feature delving into various mechanics of align the pieces (and players) as to who committed the crime and unveiling the true motive behind it. This form of narrative storytelling has been commonplace throughout the decades of filmmaking and spanning a variety of motion pictures such as The Usual Suspects , Clue , Rear Window , Psycho , Murder on the Orient Express , Memento , The Nice Guys , A Shot in the Dark , and LA Confidential just to name a few. Now, Lionsgate and director Rian Johnson present the latest endeavor in the “whodunit” film genre with the movie Knives Out . Does the feature solve its case in a entertaining and engrossing way or does it get entangled within its own messy web of deception and intrigue?

As a seasoned and celebrated mystery author, Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) has just celebrated his birthday with his family gathering at their elaborate manor estate, ending the night of festivities with a suicide in his study, slicing his own throat, and being discovered the next morning. While the shocking news rattles all, questions need to be answered, with Detective Elliot (Lakeith Stanfield) arriving on the scene to interview Harlan’s children, including his daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis) and his son Walt (Michael Shannon), as well as his extended family, including his son-in-law Richard (Don Johnson), his daughter-in-law (Toni Collette), and his grandson Ransom (Chris Evans). Observing the investigation with Detective Elliot is Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), a private investigator hired to explore the strange end to a seemingly beloved man, joining the authorities as they sniff around the home for clues, learning more about the dwelling which inspired many of Harlan’s best-seller novels. Thrown into the mix is Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), Harlan’s private nurse who’s witnessed things about the evening she can’t fully comprehend, trying to dodge Blanc’s keen observations and obscure sleuthing as mystery behind who killed Harlan Thrombey slowly comes to light…. for better or worse.

THE GOOD / THE BAD

I do have to admit that I that do love a good and classic “whodunit” story. I don’t know why I like about as many of the narratives from this yarn have been done and redone multiple times for the past several decades, especially in cinematic storytelling. There’s always a big crime / mystery to solve (usually involving some type of murder or kidnapping) and a lot of potential suspects that come into play within the narrative, with plenty of misdirection in their motives, which then in-turn lead up to the “big reveal” as a sort of grandiose twist; expelling the culprit behind the crime. As I said, this narrative has been done before in countless stories, but its how the motion picture delivers this catalyst plot device, which makes the whole journey compelling and both entertaining / rewarding. Stories like Murder on the Orient Express (pick anyone film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic novel) and Clue are some of the prime examples of this, but there are some other ones as well, with some of favorite ones being The Usual Suspects , Gone Girl , and heck even Zootopia plays up these commonly used narratives of the “whodunit” variety.

Of course, this brings up my review about the movie Knives Out, the 2019 theatrical film that’s the latest “whodunit” drama in this category. To be honest, I really didn’t hear much about this movie when it first was announced, except for the fact that director Rian Johnson was gonna be directing it. As time went on, the film’s cast was being slowly announced to the project, which certainly did garnish some interest from me as majority I do like from their previous projects. Naturally, as I mentioned above, I always do like a good “whodunit” endeavor, so I was more and more interested to see this movie, especially after seeing the film’s various trailers and marketing campaigns for the film. Plus, I did hear a lot of “word of mouth” from the film during its advance screening at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, which (again) got me interested in seeing the movie. Thus, I decided to check out Knives Out during its opening night, but, due to my work (retail and all during the holidays) I had to push doing my review for the film to a later date. Well, now it is time to delve into this murder mystery feature and give my opinion on it. What did I think of it? Well, I liked it. Despite a few nitpicks and criticism, Knives Out is a fun and thrilling ride; taking a new slice of the classic “whodunit” storytelling and stands out with its talented cast and its overall subversion from the film’s director. It doesn’t really “break the mold” of the commonplace narrative of the “whodunit”, but it certainly is fun romp in its narrative tropes.

Knives Out is directed by Rian Johnson, whose previous directorial credits includes such films like Brick , Looper , and Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi . Giving the very mixed to almost disdain opinions amongst the likeability of The Last Jedi , Johnson need a sort of project to sort of “bounce back” from that particular feature and he certainly does that with Knives Out . True, Johnson is quite a talented director, but this film allows the director to refocused his skills and present a more “smaller” scale feature that doesn’t involve large / expansive blockbuster sequences and overtly high anticipation / expectations from millions of viewers of a long-running franchise. Thus, in comparison of the two ( Knives Out to The Last Jedi ), I have to say that Knives Out comes out as the better, with Johnson playing more to the commonly used narrative of a “murder mystery” story and heavy reliance on its selection of characters who have their roles to be in the “whodunit”. Thus, Johnson is more equipped to handle this arena (compared to The Last Jedi ) and certainly shows, allowing more of the film to flow correctly and more cohesive way; staging events and adding more intrigue to the overall mystery of Harlan’s death. As to be expected, Johnson is able to play around with the somewhat expectation of a viewer’s expectations of a “whodunit” scenario; introducing several new twists and turns to the tried and true formula of this plot device. It’s the ability to subvert a viewer’s attention and prediction is where the film finds its calling. Like the film’s tagline says “Everyone has a motive. No one has a clue.”

Along with playing the director for the film, Johnson plays “double duty” as Knives Out’s writer; penning the script in dubious deception and mystery throughout. As I said before, there’s plenty of scenarios of misdirection along the way, but Johnson crafts the movie’s script in a sort of delectable way; introducing the actual murderer of Harlan Thorneby an little bit before the halfway point of the feature and how this particular individual tries to evade the ever-snooping sleuthing of Detective Blanc. Naturally, Johnson writes the third act to be “grand finale” in which all is revealed, but allowing new ideas and the ever-changing of “who’s who” and the motives they potential have for wanting to kill Harlan is what makes the film’s story interesting and engrossing throughout. Plus, the script itself is a little bit sharper than what I was expecting it to be, which is quite terrific in its own right. Thus, there are plenty of “new tricks’ in this old form of storytelling and Johnson’s script proves that point. In addition, Johnson doesn’t make the movie all “gloom and doom” within murder mystery aspect as the feature has a sort of “offbeat” humor within its context as well as the film’s script, which (thanks to the movie’s stellar cast) has plenty of comedic charm to the proceedings. That being said, Johnson does focus at what’s at stake in the narrative and never looses sight of that, with the film’s script being infused with some interesting commentary pieces ranging from the family dynamics (extended and immediate family), the classic tropes of a detective story, and (to a certain degree) American politics.

In terms of production quality, Knives Out is quite a solid piece of filmmaking and certainly feels like a presentation that’s straight out of a classic “murder mystery” with some of the background set-pieces being more of character than some of the actual supporting players in the story. Of course, I’m mostly talking about the Thrombey estate, which is part palatial opulence / grandiose and part off-beat and clutter with eclectic trinkets, furniture, and other quirky decorum. As I said, the Thrombey estate certainly has plenty of character in almost everyone, so I do have mention the talents that help bring this about such as Jermey Woodward (art direction), David Crank (production design), and David Schlesinger (set decorations). Also, the cinematography work by Steve Yedlin is also quite good in the film and certainly brings a slickness and creative cinematic nuances throughout the movie, especially in some of the more elaborate sequences in the Thorneby estate. Additionally, the movie’s score, which was composed by Nathan Johnson, is great composition piece; complimenting the feature within its melodies and overtones throughout.

Despite the film gaining a lot of momentum with critics and receiving a lot of praise, Knives Out doesn’t walk away completely unscathed from criticism. To me, while Johnson toils around with the commonly used themes and nuances that usually accompany a “whodunit” mystery, there is still plenty that plays up the tried and true formula of being predictable. What do I mean? Well, try as he might, Johnson still can’t shake the genic makeup of the storytelling art of these narratives. Thus, I kind of figured out some of the misdirection angles and a few of the twists that the movie throws at a viewer’s perception of the story being told. Again, while that might be a little intentional, it still makes the movie not quite as prolithic and ingenious as some might think or believe the movie to be. Don’t get wrong, I thought that Knives Out was quite a good motion picture, but I was intrigued and in the mystery of other similar movies ( The Usual Suspect , Gone Girl, or The Murder on the Orient Express ) more so on who killed Harlan Thorneby in the film. Speaking of which, I kind wanted a bit more murder in the story. I know that sounds a bit “weird” to say, I kind of expected a little bit twisty rather than what’s final presented in how Harlan was killed and who killed him.

Additionally, the film’s pace is at times a bit wonky and slows down every now and again, with the feature having a bit of problems within its narrative flow. The structure is there, but how it meanders through its story could’ve been better handled. This also brings up the film’s runtime, with Knives Out clocking in at around 130 minutes (two hours and ten minutes). I probably say that the film could’ve been tightened; shaving off a good ten minutes or so for a better narrative and could’ve possibly eliminated the sluggish pace here and there in the movie.

What definitely stands out in the film is Knives Out’s cast, with plenty of star power and / or recognizable acting talents playing the various characters that populate the feature’s setting and narrative. Of course, acting as the “big ticketed” attraction star is actor Daniel Craig, who plays the character of Benoit Blanc, a private detective who is mysteriously called upon to investigate Harlan’s murder. As expected, the character of Blanc is somewhat a generic make-up of the whole “whodunit” as the sleuthing detective who is usually sent to uncover the clues and solve the case / mystery behind the sudden crime. So, the character isn’t exactly fresh or new. However, Craig, known for his roles in Casino Royale , Logan Lucky , and Layer Cake , delivers a fun / amusing portrayal of this classic detective trope; having a southern drawl to his voice, which quite amusing throughout to hear, and certainly has the most energetic enthusiasm of the cast. Thus, while I will always love Craig as the character of James Bond, his performance of Benoit Blanc is exceptionally memorable and certainly as a way with the commonly used character in a murder mystery narrative.

Behind Craig’s Blanc, actress Ana de Armas turns a fine performance in the role of Marta Cabrera, Harlan’s nurse and close caretaker. For sure, Marta lies at the heart of Knives Out and with Armas, known for her roles in War Dogs , Blade Runner 2049 , and The Boarding School , doing an exceptional job as the somewhat main protagonist of the feature; focusing on her journey from start to finish. As mentioned before, Johnson certainly does toil around with the “whodunit” narrative and certainly does that with Marta. Additionally, actor Chris Evans ( Avengers: Endgame and Captain America: The Winter Soldier ) does a solid job in the role of spoiled boy Hugh Ransom Drysdale (Harlan’s grandson / Lind and Richard sons). As to be expected, the character does play a role in the movie with Evans playing their character with effectiveness. Plus, it quite interesting (almost refreshing) to see Evan playing a character that’s outside the superhero genre.

Majority of the large cast, including actress Jamie Lee Curtis ( Halloween and True Lies ) as Harlan’s eldest daughter Linda Drysdale, actor Don Johnson ( Book Club and The Other Woman ) as Harlan’s son-in-law / Linda’s wife Richard Drysdale, actor Michael Shannon ( Boardwalk Empire and Man of Steel ) as Harlan’s youngest son Walter Thrombey, actress Riki Lindhome ( Another Period and Enlightened ) as Harlan’s daughter-in-law / Walter’s wife Donna Thrombey, actor Jaeden Martell ( The Book of Henry and IT ) as Harlan’s grandson / Walt and Donna’s son Jacob Thrombey, actress Toni Collette ( Hereditary and Little Miss Sunshine ) as Harlan’s deceased son Neil widow Joni Thrombey, and actress Katherine Langford ( Love, Simon and 13 Reason Why ) as Neil and Joni’s daughter Meg Thrombey, are delegated to supporting roles. Of course, all these acting talents are quite recognizable / standing screen presence, so their involvement in Knives Out is fantastic, despite being sometimes pushed to the secondary positions. Lastly, in this category of characters, seasoned actor Christopher Plummer ( The Sound of Music and All the Money in the World ) does a solid job as the wealthy mystery novelist Harlan Thrombey. As to be expected, Harlan’s appearance is sprinkled throughout the feature (via flashback scenes), but Plummer still gives a memorable performance throughout.

The rest of the cast, including actor Lakeith Stanfield (Sorry to Bother You and Atlanta) as Detective Lieutenant Elliot, actor Noah Segan ( Brick and Looper ) as Trooper Wagner, actress Edi Patterson ( The Righteous Gemstone and Vice Principals ) as Harlan’s housekeeper Fran, actress K Callan ( Carnivale and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman ) as Harlan’s elderly mother Wancetta “Great Nana” Thormbey, actor Frank Oz (did not know that was him in the movie….. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back and The Muppet Shows ) as Harlan’s lawyer Alan Stevens, actor M. Emmet Walsh ( The Jerk and Blade Runner ) as Mr. Proofoc, actress Marlene Forte ( The Fosters and Altered Carbon ) as Marta’s mother Mrs. Cabrera, and actress Shyrley Rodriguez ( Pacific Rim: Uprising and The Get Down ) as Marta’s sister Alicia Cabrera, are delegated to minor supporting characters in the movie. While most of them are usually in the background (with one or two moments in the “spotlight”), these acting talents still give wholesome small character roles respectfully.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Who killed Harlan Thrombey and why? is the central theme / question that many ask in the movie Knives Out . Director Rian Johnson latest film takes a “stab” (quite literally) into the classic “whodunit” murder mystery narrative and present by his own means of cinematic storytelling; putting a new spin upon an old classic trope plot device. While the movie can’t overcome the predictable nature of the commonly used formulas / nuances of a murder mystery as well as a few sluggish pacing within its runtime and not fully utilizing some of its characters, the film still finds its engrossing rhythm of entertainment, especially thanks to Johnson’s direction, some of the unique twists in the story, the cinematography / presentation, and to the film’s cast. To me, I really liked this movie. It had its fair share problems (though some were minor ones to me), so I don’t think its quite as ingenious as some are making the film to be, but I was still quite enjoyable and kept me really interested in the feature from start to finish. Thus, my recommendation for the movie is a solid “highly recommended” as it is a crowd pleaser film that many will come to enjoy as offers up some slightly different than the common tentpoles of current Hollywood releases (i.e. superhero blockbusters, derivate horror flicks, run-of-the-mill comedy productions, and the plethora of a “page to screen” adaptations). Plus, I think that many will agree (whether you liked this movie or not) that Johnson is still capable / talented director. Thus, in the end, despite a few areas that could’ve been ironed out, Knives Out turns out to be quite a wickedly fun “whodunit”; combining the somewhat off-beat / quirky nuances of Clue and turns it into a subversive take of the murder mystery yarn for a modern-day viewing audience.

4.2 Out of 5 (Highly Recommended)

Released on: november 27th, 2019, reviewed on: december 18th, 2019.

Knives Out  is 130 minutes long and is rated PG-13 for thematic elements including brief violence, some strong language, sexual references, and drug material

Share this:

Fantastic review! Sounds like a fully realized and exciting ‘whodunnit’ thriller!

It certainly was. It was a lot of fun to watch everything unfold and the film’s cast was solid in their respective roles.

Thanks for an excellent review, Jason! I was planning on seeing this one but it’s now on my must-see list.

It’s definitely an interesting and well-made / well-acted movie. It doesn’t “redefined” the whodunit genre, but sure plays around with a person’s expectations.

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Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

Movie Review – Knives Out (2019)

December 4, 2019 by George Nash

Knives Out , 2019.

Written and directed by Rian Johnson. Starring Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Jaeden Martell, Katherine Langford, Lakeith Stanfield, Christopher Plummer.

When a wealthy crime author is found dead the morning after his birthday party, a debonair detective is sent in under mysterious circumstances to investigate. With family dysfunction rife and motives aplenty, deciphering fact from fiction quickly proves to be a killer.

As we all know very well, few things are certain in a murder mystery movie. If there is one sure-fire thing, however, it’s this: no one can be trusted, and everyone has something to hide. For horror aficionados, such a sentiment immediately evokes the image of a clean-cut, pre- Son of the Mask Jamie Kennedy in the Scream series’ inaugural instalment exclaiming hysterically that in order to catch a killer “there is a formula, a very simple formula: everybody’s a suspect”. Given that the character, the loveable movie geek Randy Meeks, is effectively the audience in chino-wearing, scary movie rule-spouting form, it’s a theory we should all buy into.

And it’s this tried and tested formula that protrudes from the centre of Rian Johnson’s latest cinematic offering, Knives Out . After fighting with the future in 2012’s Looper and reigniting a lightsaber legacy in Star Wars: The Last Jedi , Johnson finally brings things into the present as he takes a stab at the modern whodunnit. Side-lining any trace of sci-fi, the result is a lavish, devilishly delightful tale of murder, mystery and doughnuts that is sharp in more ways than one.

Despite a world of smart phones, Facebook live and Twitter being the scene of Johnson’s crime, it’s the classic heavyweights of the detective genre that have their prints smeared all over Knives Out . In an all too familiar set up, the body of super-rich crime author Harlan Thrombrey (Plummer) is found on the top floor of his extravagant, gothic, Cluedo-esque mansion the morning after his 85th birthday bash. His throat has been slashed, but the authorities (a good cop, fanboy cop duo played by Stanfield and Noah Segan) deem it to be death by suicide.

Something doesn’t feel quite right, of course. And an unknown figure seems to agree, paying generously for the presence of private investigator Benoit Blanc (Craig) — a hammy-accented amalgamation of Holmes, Poirot and Inspector Goole — who casts a suspicious eye over everyone. There’s Jamie Lee Curtis’ fiercely proud, “self-made” daughter, her half-witted husband Richard (Don Johnson), and their silver-spoon son Ransom (Evans). Then there’s Michael Shannon’s charmless son Walt, Jaeden Martell’s right-wing grandson, Toni Collette’s Instafamous daughter-in-law, her adolescent child Meg ( 13 Reasons Why ’s Katherine Langford) and Ana de Armas’ loyal, unassuming nurse. Even with so little substantial evidence, to Blanc, the whole situation, and everybody in it, stinks of foul play.

From there, Johnson, who also penned the screenplay, has great fun toying with our expectations. One minute the investigation moves down archetypal avenues. The next, the film is abruptly flipping, tipping and dishevelling the balance of play every which way. Allegiances sway swiftly back and forth, testimonies are questioned, quashed and then dismantled entirely, and motives, of which there are many, have us pointing the finger of blame in all directions.

But culpability isn’t the only thing under the magnifying glass here. From the get-go, the affluent 1% are shoved rather unapologetically into the firing line, with Johnson’s class politics far from subtle: one doesn’t need a detective’s nous to decipher that this family is rotten to the core. Spoilt, selfish and snobby beyond belief, the Thrombeys are vividly painted every shade of insufferable. Bickering away in their remote stately home, they are, literally and figuratively, cut off from the rest of society, driven by money and status and defunct of anything that resembles empathy.

In embodying the very worst side of wealth, the ensemble cast are all having a blast. In particular, there are memorably unpleasant turns from Curtis and Evans, the latter proving once again, albeit in a totally different sense this time, that he is very much still America’s ass. The showiest role of the lot undoubtedly belongs to Craig, though: a performance of wacky charm that showcases comedic talents his recent projects have restricted. And yet, it is de Armas who quietly pulls the rug from under everyone’s feet. Her measured performance layers the story with humanity and provides the necessary emotional grounding to allow Johnson to take things to the tip of absurdity, before thrusting a few poignant, piercing daggers to the heart.

The film’s true pièce de résistance, however, is Johnson himself. Furnishing Knives Out with all manner of innovation and whimsical homage, this is a filmmaker at his most buoyant, his most creative, his most playful. Despite the occasional sag during the film’s middle section, this is a wonderfully entertaining tale weaved together with intricacy, eccentricity and more twists than you can shake a blade at.

Sharp, smart and stylish, few films this year will have you feeling quite as giddy. For Rian Johnson, the knives are well and truly out, and he is taking great pleasure in slicing up the rule book.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★/ Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★

George Nash is a freelance film journalist. Follow him on Twitter via @_Whatsthemotive for movie musings, puns and cereal chatter.

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Director Rian Johnson is 'diving in full force' on 'Knives Out 3.' Here's everything we know so far.

• Rian Johnson is working on "Knives Out 3" after the success of 2022's "Glass Onion."
• Daniel Craig is expected to return as detective Benoit Blanc.
• Here's what we know about the upcoming sequel.

Audiences fell head over heels for Rian Johnson 's murder mystery, "Knives Out," when it arrived in theaters back in 2019.

Led by Daniel Craig as southern detective Benoit Blanc, the film earned a 97% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes . 

After making $312 million at the box office , it was no surprise when a bidding war started for the rights to sequels.

Ultimately, Netflix paid a reported $450 million for the franchise, and Johnson got to work on 2022's "Glass Onion."

The sequel saw Blanc tackle a mystery on a Greek island, as Craig starred opposite the likes of Edward Norton, Janelle Monae, Dave Bautista, and Kathryn Hahn . 

But in the year since "Glass Onion," Johnson has confirmed that he's working on "Knives Out 3," and even teased a little bit of what we can expect from the third film. Here's what we know so far.

Rian Johnson is taking Benoit Blanc back to America in "Knives Out 3."

One of the most important ingredients of a whodunit is an interesting location.

"Knives Out" is set in a quirky mansion in Massachusetts, while "Glass Onion" takes place on a Greek island owned by Edward Norton's egotistical billionaire , Miles Bron.

Insider spoke to director Rian Johnson back in December 2022, and he revealed that the third sequel will be set in the US.

 "I want it to be in America. There's a lot of tempting things of going to Paris or the Alps but I feel it's really important that these are American movies," said the filmmaker.

Johnson added: "Even with 'Glass Onion,' it's set overseas but it's a group of Americans who are trapped on an island together, so bringing it back to somewhere a little closer to home I think could be a good thing for the next one."

Johnson gave an update to TheWrap in October 2023, saying that he's now free to work on the movie following the end of the Writers Guild of America strike .

"It's coming along. I obviously couldn't work during the strike, and now that it's over, I'm diving in full force, and so it's coming along," said Johnson. "I've got the premise, I've got the setting, I've got what the movie is in my head. It's just a matter of writing the damn thing."

Daniel Craig is the only cast member currently expected to appear in "Knives Out 3."

Because Johnson is still in the process of writing "Knives Out 3" after the writers' strike , there's no casting news about the inevitable list of suspects who'll be involved in whatever mystery unfolds in the sequel.

For now, the only star fans can expect to return is Craig, who is set to whip out his "Kentucky-fried Foghorn Leghorn drawl"  once more.

Johnson told Variety in October 2022 that he'll keep making more movies about Benoit Blanc for as long as possible. 

He said: "If each one of these can really be what Agatha Christie did, if it can be not just in a totally new location and a new cast, but also trying something exciting, I'll keep doing it as long as Daniel and I are having a good time. I'll keep making these as long as they let me."

The James Bond actor echoed the same sentiment in an interview with Deadline in November 2022.

"Rian seems to me to be very excited about getting on with the next one. He's already got some ideas, and they sound to me to be really interesting, so I'm going to let him just get on with that," said Craig.

Craig went on to say: "I mean, if people are interested, then we'll make them. But if there ever came a point where either Rian and I thought we were just churning them out, I think we would back away. I mean, I just don't think that's what either of us want to do in life. Unless people are getting genuine fun out of them, forget it."

Insider has a few suggestions for actors who should be in "Knives Out 3," like Jenna Ortega and Matt Berry.

"Knives Out 3" doesn't have a release date yet.

"Knives Out 3" doesn't have a release date yet, because the writers' strike has only just ended, and Johnson has yet to finish the script. 

There's also the issue of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike , as actors are still campaigning to get better pay and fairer conditions from major studios, networks, and streaming services in Hollywood.

Even if Johnson finishes the script quickly, there's no estimate as to when the strike will end and actors will be available to shoot the movie.

Disclosure: Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member.

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