To go into too much detail with this review runs the risk of spoiling the movie for others. With that in mind, here are my brief thoughts about Knives Out, the latest film from director Rian Johnson: see it. Want a little more? Then let’s proceed. No spoilers, but this was a fun, thoughtful, suspenseful, brain-teasing film in the style of Agatha Christie that I thoroughly enjoyed.
The film revolves around the investigation into the death of Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), with Private Investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) suspecting foul play. Every member of the Thrombey family present on the night of Harlan’s death has a motive to getting the family patriarch out of the picture.
There are twists and turns from the start, as well as subversions of typical movie tropes that I won’t spoil here. Let’s just say there’s a trope about the reaction to finding someone dead in a movie and the film cleverly subverts it while also paying homage to it.
The cast is top notch, from Craig’s Detective Blanc and Ana De Armas’s Marta, to Chris Evans’s Ransom and Christopher Plummer’s brief appearances as Harlan Thrombey. It was a delight seeing Chris Evans in a role that is so unlike his career-defining portrayal of Captain America as he plays a Grade A scumbag who is the black sheep of the Thrombey family. To talk too much about the other characters may let spoilers slip, so let’s move on.
Like his previous film, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson’s whodunnit is stylish and well shot, with a flavor that is entirely its own. Close-ups and slow motion are two of many methods used to up the tension and the ante, and all these methods make me want to check out the movie all over again.
I’m really tiptoeing around the specifics of this movie because I believe you need to see this film for yourself, so I’m going to wrap up this review here. To reiterate, this is a well-written, well-directed, well-acted whodunnit that will keep you on your toes until the very end. To put it more simply: see it.
The Sack Score: 9/10