A throwback to the murder mystery stories in a similar vain to Agatha Christie's "Miss Marple" series of books, Rian Johnson's "Knives Out" is the story of a family gathering that falls apart at the seams as they cope with the death of their matriarch; successful crime/thriller novelist Harlan Thrombey, whom had recently celebrated his 85th birthday only to be found with his throat slit open the following morning. With the man's death comes gentleman sleuth Benoit Blanc, whom had been hired anonymously as there is suspicion of foul play and the possibility that someone in the Thrombey family may have had a hand in his demise. Accompanying him is Harlan's personal nurse, Marta Cabrera, as he believes that she have something of an insight due to her condition of being incapable of telling a lie with becoming physically sick. Tensions arise, however, when the Thrombey family learn that Harlan had left his money, estate and private publishing house all to Marta, naturally leading to conflicts and accusations as Blanc continues to piece together not only the mystery of who may had murdered Harlan, but also who had hired him in the first place.
This is not the first time that Rian Johnson has stepped into a "whodunit" style of story-telling; in fact, his directorial debut "Brick" in 2005 is a subversion of expectations with a hardboiled detective story, just with high school students uncovering a mystery revolving around heroin. "Knives Out", however, remains true to the classical nature of a "whodunit" narrative, complete with eccentric and flamboyant personalities constantly clashing amidst the possibility of anybody being the perpetrator of murder. Regardless, this film perfectly captures the spirit of a "whodunit" story purely through how not everything is automatically made clear, but ultimately makes sense when the murderer is inevitably revealed. At it's core, the film is a serious drama with comedic elements thrown in to make the characters better defined as people, all the while adhering to the classic tropes of a murder mystery. To quote BBC Radio 5's Mark Kermode in his review of the film:
"The best 'whodunit's' are films in which the answer is there, but you don't see it."
Essentially, all of the answers are presented to the audience practically as soon as the murderer appears on screen, but the film is clever enough to lay the subtle seeds that eventually sprout into a larger web of mysteries and interpersonal connections between the characters. Thus, when the reveal comes and all of the pieces are put into place by Blanc and Marta, it never feels as if the film is getting self-absorbed with being too shocking or clever, but instead rewards the viewers for paying close attention to otherwise innocuous details.
The casting for this film is absolutely phenomenal; ranging from veterans such as Jamie Lee Curtis as Linda or Michael Shannon as Walter, to fresh newcomers including Ana De Armas as Marta and Jaeden Martell as Jacob. Although not everyone is given as much screen time as each other, including the aforementioned Jacob who spends much of his screen time on his phone posting extreme alt-right political views, they are still nonetheless giving every bit of energy that they have into their performances. But even with all of these powerhouse actors, they pale in comparison to Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc. As evident in his roles as James Bond, one may be lead to believe that Craig continues to keep his attitude reserved yet tense. Because of this, an unsuspecting audience member will certainly be surprised to hear him speak with a thick, exaggerated Southern country accent akin to the likes of Foghorn Leghorn from the Looney Tunes, on top of sticking to that accent for the entire time he is on screen. This would normally make him something of a live action cartoon character, but Craig is able to reel it in just enough so that the accent is consistent, but does not sound unnatural or forced by the actor. This easily has to be Craig's best performance outside of the more recent James Bond movies, with him getting lost in the role and being virtually unrecognisable as the actor as a result.
The film is also shot beautifully. Say what one might concerning Rian Johnson and his writing; there is no denying that he is capable of leaving the audience at awe with excellent visuals (including the main setting of a Gothic, archaic mansion) as well as capturing a tense, uncomfortable atmosphere simply though how he chooses to set the scene. A key example would be when the entire family is gathered together before Harlan's will is read by a surprising Frank Oz cameo, and they learn that playboy Hugh Drysdale, played by Chris Evans, has been cut out of the will by Harlan. This naturally leads to a massive argument when he starts telling everyone to "eat sh*t" and calling one family member, Joni (played by Toni Colette), for being hypocritical in saying that this is a chance for him to take the hard route and build himself as his own man. The performances are excellent given the calibre of the actors involved, but with the camera angles keeping things intimately close to said actors to let them shine it thus exemplifies the tension and how morally bankrupt most of these family members are. Through visual storytelling, Rian Johnson is presenting us with a broken picture of a corrupt and selfish family.
"Knives Out" is the perfect return to form for audiences how love watching "whodunit's", especially ones that can have the audience laughing one moment and then watching with mouths hanging agape the next. The tonal shifts come off as natural to the scenario and in no way forces the emotional reaction that it is intending to garner. Couple this with an all-star cast of veterans and newcomers, excellent cinematography and direction via Rian Johnson, and a twist ending that audiences wouldn't see coming immediately but works within the confines of the narrative; this was easily one of my most delightful experiences at the cinema and I highly recommend it to anyone if they can find any showings left available.
Overall rating: 9/10 (Brilliant).
Thank you for reading my review, apologies for writing it late. I would appreciate it if this was shared on social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc) and if you could kindly leave a comment letting me know what you thought of the film. Also follow me on Twitter; @MediaHood23. And consider subscribing to my YouTube channel; Media Hood Reviews.
So, until next time; this is Callum Lewis, the Media Hood, signing off.
