Knives Out is a brilliant and subversive take on the 'whodunnit' genre
Rian Johnson's latest mystery movie is brilliant on every level and could be the most underrated movie of the year.
Note: This article was first published on 20 November 2019 and it's republished now because Knives Out is now in cinemas.
Knives Out is distributed by Lionsgate.
Knives Out is directed by Rian Johnson - a man better known for helming Star Wars: The Last Jedi. This is Johnson’s take on the whodunnit genre - a type of mystery where one has to figure out who, amongst a pool of prime suspects, has committed a ghastly murder. It’s also the single best film I’ve had the pleasure of watching all year long - but why? Well, allow me to try on private detective Benoit Blanc’s hat on for a moment, and break this mystery down for you.
Before that, though - a small sidebar. This is an entirely spoiler-free review, because I feel like you should go into this movie as blind as possible. Even if you have watched the trailers, don’t worry about it too much - they’re quite misleading.
The story, as it were
The Thrombeys come together to celebrate Harlan's birthday. The very next day, he's found dead - with suicide the most likely cause of death.
Here are the facts. A crime novelist, Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) of heaping money and fame invites his entire dysfunctional family to his remote mansion to celebrate his 85th birthday. The very next day, however, he is found dead with his neck slit, lying in a pool of his own blood. On any other day, this would be an open and shut case of suicide. This isn't an ordinary day however, because famed Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) has been called in to investigate - and he begins to uncover a hidden layer of lies and deceit in the family household.
Almost everyone has a motive to kill the late Harlan Thrombey, but who? Why does it look like a suicide? How did they do it? These are the questions to which Blanc seeks the answers. Now, this all seems like a pretty simple story at first - a clear-cut mystery movie and nothing much more. However, that’s the very thing Knives Out refuses to be - clear-cut. Instead, it is sprawling, complex and utterly brilliant.
Daniel Craig is great as private detective Benoit Blanc - a role I hope he returns to one day.
Knives Out takes the story you think you’re going to watch, and turns it on its head within the first half hour. Then, it does it again. Then, again, and again, and again. For a movie to flip-flop in focus so much, you’d think it would get annoying - but it just feels inventive and utterly mesmerising. I couldn’t believe how quickly I started investing in these characters, and felt their anxiety whenever the tables turned. Key information is slowly drip-fed to the audience, so we always feel like we know enough to guess the outcome - but we never do.
The Thrombeys, as they were
This is an absolutely star-studded cast! Everyone shines in the screentime they're given here.
We were this close to getting a twisted sequel to The Wild Thornberrys, but oh well. The Thrombey clan are a complicated bunch, but you’ll grow to understand and empathise with most of them over the course of this film. They’re mostly made up of conceited jerks, but boy do they chew up the scenery. It’s fun to watch them all interact - like you’re at an extremely uncomfortable holiday reunion that you can’t tear your eyes away from.
I can’t pinpoint a bad actor from the bunch - everyone was just flawless here. Ana de Armas delivers a knockout performance as the late Harlan Thrombey’s caretaker, though it’ll come as no surprise to anyone who’s seen her in Blade Runner 2049. She’s going to be insanely popular after this - mark my words. Daniel Craig and Chris Evans (Ransom Thrombey) are fantastic as well. Craig has so much fun with Benoit Blanc, while Evans throws out his Captain America-like goody two shoes persona entirely here.
Ana de Armas is fantastic here - and you'll see her with Daniel Craig again next year in 007's next outing - No Time to Die.
It’s honestly hard to single out which actors did particularly well, because there's such a star-studded cast at work here. Knives Out boasts the likes of Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield and more - actors who have proven that they can do extremely well with a good script. It’s fortunate then, that Knives Out is written so brilliantly - to the point where the Thrombeys can just bicker about immigration, politics and Hamilton, and it’s still so damn mesmerising. And funny!
The verdict, as it were
This isn't your average whodunnit.
Knives Out is a film all about challenging expectations. It’s a Jenga tower, with twist after twist stacked on top of one another - one that gets perilously high, but never collapses. It’s astonishingly well-written, constantly subverting the viewers’ expectations - but never to the point where it would feel cheap or excessive.
It also relishes in engaging modern societal issues - after all, what else is there to talk about at a family reunion? There’s even a central theme of immigration - but it never feels too on-the-nose or preachy. There’s a lot to pick apart in this movie, and I honestly look forward to those discussions the most.
This is one of the best films you’ll see all year. It’s my personal favourite, at the very least. Watch it, so you can tell everyone else 'I told you so!' during awards season.
***
10 knives out of 10
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