Rian Johnson is one of the most fascinating directors working today in the industry. He came out with great films in Brick, Brothers Bloom, and Looper and took audiences by storm. Then he directed The Last Jedi and while I love that film and some of you may stop reading now that I said that, it made his name wrongfully sour in the mouths of some. Now he has his first film since Star Wars out with Knives Out, how will he follow up from this shaky ground? The answer is stunningly. Knives Out is everything you want from a murder mystery movie with unpredictable surprises, unexpected developments, and a cast of characters that keep you entertained throughout.
Knives Out is the story about the Thrombey family who after their patriarch (Christopher Plummer) is found dead by apparent suicide, bicker and wait to see who will inherit his massive fortune. However, the suicide seems too easy, and detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) investigates when he begins to suspect this suicide could have actually been a murder. As I said before, Rian Johnson is one of the most fascinating directors working today and Knives Out puts that notion on full display. This film has his fingerprints all over it. Every project he has put out he has had an immense joy for and that has never been more apparent than in this film. You can feel the influence all over of older mystery films and novels, they are even outright addressed by some characters such as Lakeith Stanfield saying the home looks like a “Clue house”. This is the work of a director taking all he has learned from older films and using those ideas to execute a film better than those that came before his. This is one of the best murder mystery films I have seen, but that doesn’t mean it is perfect.
With these murder mystery films, one of the biggest components as to whether the film succeeds or falters is the reveal. Does the solving of the mystery end up working? In Knives Out it absolutely works but, it does not live up to the buildup. The problem is the set up of this story is so impeccable and the driving forward of the story is so enthralling with you going through all the twists and turns, you expect this reveal to just knock you out of your seat and it doesn’t quite live up to that. You are left wondering why you didn’t guess that in the first place and sometimes the simplest answers are the best ones. This does not take away from the rest of the film though, the journey is a blast. Midway through the film takes its focus and flips it on its head and it becomes a whole new focus. You wonder just where they are going to go from there and it just becomes more and more interesting as the plot progresses. This is why the reveal is so underwhelming because the big crescendo the film was leading up to ultimately didn’t live up to the hype.
The big hype surrounding this movie came from the announcements of the cast. It seemed like one after another they just kept adding big names and none of them disappointed. The name you need to get familiar with however is Ana de Armas. Ana plays Marta, the personal assistant to Harlan who is the last to see him before he dies. She is the central focus of the film and I did not realize just how much of the plot was going to revolve around her. She is amazing in this role, playing this woman who just keeps finding herself in a bigger mess and is trying to do her best to get out of it. Her character has a particularly fun quirk that comes around very nicely quite often. Another standout is Chris Evans as Ransom who is this complete asshole. We are not used to seeing this from Evans given he is Captain America, but this shift in character for him to be the hated one is pulled off very well by him. The rest of the cast is terrific including Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Michael Shannon, Daniel Craig, Lakeith Stanfield, Kathryn Langford, Don Johnson, Jaeden Martell, and Christopher Plummer. They all get their moments and scenes to shine and no member of this cast ever feels underutilized or left out.
Rian Johnson has crafted this incredibly entertaining murder mystery of a film in Knives Out that is a fun journey throughout that doesn’t quite reach its lofty expectations by the end. The cast is terrific and all the twists in the plot keep you locked in anticipating the ultimate conclusion of this story. This is one of the more enjoyable theater experiences I have had all year and feel will get better with repeat viewings. If you are looking for a fun film to sit down with your family in theaters with this Thanksgiving, Knives Out is the perfect choice.
The Verdict