Knives Out
Year: 2019
Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Ana de Armas, Toni Collette, Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, Katherine Langford, Christopher Plummer & Michael Shannon
Runtime: 130 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 12/11/20
Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Ana de Armas, Toni Collette, Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, Katherine Langford, Christopher Plummer & Michael Shannon
Runtime: 130 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 12/11/20
I feel like there is something universally enjoyable about a whodunnit. A sub-genre of crime thriller fiction wherein an eclectic cast of often eccentric characters are pitted against each other whilst a lone and talented investigator uncovers clues to determine who among the group is responsible for a crime, often murder.
One of the greatest examples of this type of story are Agatha Christie’s Poirot stories, particularly the most famous of them Murder on the Orient Express. The reason these types of story are so beloved the world over is that there is something so enjoyable about trying to work out who did it before the investigator does, who is usually the main character. Knives Out however takes this formula and adds a couple of unique surprises to it that make it stand out as one of the genre’s best.
Following the suicide of famous author Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) after his birthday party, the family and staff are gathered by the police to go over the events of the evening in order to work out why the man would take his own life. But private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) suspects foul play as he has been hired to worm out whomever killed Mr. Thrombey and bring them to justice.
In contrast to most whodunnit’s, the detective is not the main character however, but instead one of the suspects, Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), Thrombey’s nurse.
Without giving too much away, Knives Out reveals quite a lot of information early on, including the person responsible, but much of the fun is had in seeing the lengths characters go to in order to hide their guilt, and how it continues to make you question this admission of guilt with each new piece of evidence that comes to light.
One of the greatest examples of this type of story are Agatha Christie’s Poirot stories, particularly the most famous of them Murder on the Orient Express. The reason these types of story are so beloved the world over is that there is something so enjoyable about trying to work out who did it before the investigator does, who is usually the main character. Knives Out however takes this formula and adds a couple of unique surprises to it that make it stand out as one of the genre’s best.
Following the suicide of famous author Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) after his birthday party, the family and staff are gathered by the police to go over the events of the evening in order to work out why the man would take his own life. But private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) suspects foul play as he has been hired to worm out whomever killed Mr. Thrombey and bring them to justice.
In contrast to most whodunnit’s, the detective is not the main character however, but instead one of the suspects, Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), Thrombey’s nurse.
Without giving too much away, Knives Out reveals quite a lot of information early on, including the person responsible, but much of the fun is had in seeing the lengths characters go to in order to hide their guilt, and how it continues to make you question this admission of guilt with each new piece of evidence that comes to light.
The film has an incredible A-List cast, those who I have already mentioned alongside the likes of Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, Katherine Langford, and Toni Collette. This cast brings their all to their roles and whilst all of them are near caricatures of stereotypes, thanks to the near perfect balance of comedy and suspense the performances never feel out of place. They are always incredibly funny, but never so much so that you begin to let your guard down around any of them. Some characters are underutilised quite a lot, so it makes you wonder whether the cast could have been shrunk slightly, but the complexity of motives that each suspect has makes each one worth their inclusion even if some ultimately only have very small roles.
Daniel Craig is the standout performance of the whole film that perfectly tiptoes this near impossible balance of funny yet ominous. Whilst Ana de Armas is the perfect character for audiences to view the situation through as she is an outsider in almost every sense of the word, despite being a suspect.
Rian Jonson does an incredible job of leaving visual clues for the audience to pick up on, and ultimately subverting those expectations just as often as he follows through with them. As a result, Knives Out is a film that despite giving you the answers you’re looking for early on, but by that point is has already hooked you into the deadly game of how to get away with murder, and who to trust in those dire times.
If you’re a murder mystery fan then Knives Out is a film that I can almost guarantee you’ll have a great time with, and even if you’re not I feel that due to the excellent performances and subversions of the tired genre tropes then you’ll probably still find a lot to like in the film.
Daniel Craig is the standout performance of the whole film that perfectly tiptoes this near impossible balance of funny yet ominous. Whilst Ana de Armas is the perfect character for audiences to view the situation through as she is an outsider in almost every sense of the word, despite being a suspect.
Rian Jonson does an incredible job of leaving visual clues for the audience to pick up on, and ultimately subverting those expectations just as often as he follows through with them. As a result, Knives Out is a film that despite giving you the answers you’re looking for early on, but by that point is has already hooked you into the deadly game of how to get away with murder, and who to trust in those dire times.
If you’re a murder mystery fan then Knives Out is a film that I can almost guarantee you’ll have a great time with, and even if you’re not I feel that due to the excellent performances and subversions of the tired genre tropes then you’ll probably still find a lot to like in the film.