A Star-Studded Murder Mystery That Does Not Disappoint

Rating: 8/10 (24 May 2020)

I'll admit it, when I first saw the trailer for Knives Out, I was a bit sceptical. I did not know what to think. Growing up I used to love Agatha Christie murder mystery novels, but after 2017's star-studded Murder on the Orient Express turned out to be just mediochre, I was not as excited for this film as I should've been. Knives Out has something for everyone in the family, a huge ensemble cast, a riveting storyline that keeps you on the edge of your seat, and beautiful direction. As a long-lasting star wars fan, I was left disappointed after Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi, but boy did his direction abilities ever shine in this movie. Every actor, every scene shines in its own way and you follow the clues to solving the murder of Harlan Thrombey.
A week after Harlan Thrombey's (Christopher Plummer) sudden demise, Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), his nurse, is called back to the Thrombey residence by Harlan's immediate family for some questioning from the police. The police question every single one of Harlan's relatives: his daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis), her son Walt (Michael Shannon), his daughter-in-law Joni (Toni Collette), Linda's Husband Richard (Don Johnson), Joni's Daughter Meg (Katherine Langford), and Walt's son Jacob (Jaeden Martell). Ransom (Chris Evans), Linda and Richard's son, couldn't make it to questioning nor the funeral. Sitting in the back corner of the interviewing room is Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), and he soon realizes that through their interviews, each one of them has lied only once.
Blanc interrogates Richard, for some people claimed he had heard him yelling at Harlan at his birthday party the night before he died. Richard then states that Harlan was harrasing him as he had found a picture of Richard cheating on Linda. Harlan writes a letter to Linda and claims he will give it to her the next day. While interviewing Joni, Blanc realizes that Joni had been stealing money from Harlan, which he meant for Meg's school tuition. While interviewing Marta, he finds out that Marta has a reguritative reaction to whenever she lies. Blanc analyzes the thrombey's night and what could have possibly led to Harlan's demise: Ransom and Meg left the party early, and Linda hears someone coming down the stairs 3 seperate times: the first was Joni, who was checking on Marta and Harlan after she heard a loud thud, the second was Marta, leaving for the night to go home, and the third was Harlan coming down for a midnight snack. Meg comes home later that night and attempts to fall asleep, but is awoken by Harlan's dogs barking.
That night, at Harlan's memorial, Marta talks to Fran, Harlan's maid, and calms her nerves by smoking with Fran and Meg. Outside, Blanc finds Marta and asks her to be his second in command, which she accepts. Marta then recalls the real story of what had happened that night: she and Harlan headed upstairs to go to bed, but Harlan insists they play games in the attic. In the attic, they play games, where Harlan knocks over the board, which he tells Joni what the loud thud was. Marta then proceeds to give Harlan his daily medicines, but realizes she gave the wrong doses to him. After she couldn't find the antidote, Harlan states that she must leave and come back an hour later, using the side ladder to head back upstairs, put on Harlan's clothes, and disguise herself as Harlan getting a midnight snack. Harlan lies down on his loveseat and slits his throat with a knife. All goes to plan except for when Marta comes back downstairs, where Harlans mother mistakes Marta for Ransom.
The day after the memorial, Blanc and Marta examine the security footage to see if anyone came in that night. With slight of hand, Marta switches the tapes and hides the real one in a plastic fridge magnet. As they approach the side gate to the house, Marta sees her footprints and walks over them to hide the fact that it was her. As the family prepares for the will reading, Ransom arrives in an oddly happy mood. He then pinpoints Jacob for being very quiet during this investigation, to which Jacob responds stating that he heard Harlan fighting with Ransom at his birthday party, and blantly hearing something about the will. At the will reading, it is announced that Harlan left all his assets to Marta and left nothing to his family. Marta is bombarded by the Thrombeys before escaping with Ransom.
At a restaurant, Marta tells Ransom the full story of what happened that night. Meg calls Marta and asks for part of the inheritance, to which Marta accepts. The next morning, Marta is awoken by her family who say that lawyers and paparazzi have been at their door all day. Marta attempts to sneak out of the back, but encounters Walt, who threatens to deport Marta's family for her mother is an illegal immigrant. Marta escapes and finds a semi-scanned toxology report of Harlan with the words "I know what you did" handwritten on it. Marta and Ransom head to the police station to get the full Toxology report, but upon arriving, find the building up in flames. After Blanc notices Marta and Ransom together, he chases them into town, where the cops take Ransom hostage, while Blanc stays with Marta. Marta checks her email and finds an address and a time stamp. She heads to the address, which is a closed laundromat, and finds Fran's nearly-deceased body. Frans final words to marta are "you did this", but Marta calls 911 and attempts to save Fran's life.
Upon arriving back at the thrombey residence, Marta tells Blanc the full story, but he responds saying "Ransom already told the police". Marta finds the toxology report, hidden in Fran's secret stash drawer and lets Blanc read it while she attempts to tell the thrombey's about her actions. Before she can, Blanc summonds Ransom and Marta to the den. Blanc solves the puzzle: Ransom was aggrivated when Harlan told him that every asset of his would go to Marta and he storms out. He then turns around, climbs up the side ladder and switches Harlan's medication and steals the antidote. Ransom attempts to go back to the house in the middle of the night, but the dogs bark and he runs away. Marta, being a good nurse, realizes the slight change in viscosity of the two drugs and gives him the correct dosage, ruling Harlan's death a suicide. During Harlan's funeral, Ransom comes back to the house to steal Marta's bag, but runs into Fran on his way out. Fran threatens to out Ransom, but he finds a way to gas her and lock her in the laundromat. He then proceeds to burn all evidence that Marta is innocent by burning the police station. However, much to his surprise, Fran had 2 copies of the toxology report: one hidden at the residence and one in her purse. As Ransom attempts to kill Marta, he unawarely uses a stage knife and is arrested on the spot. Later, as Ransom is driven away, Marta stands on Harlan's balcony, looking over the Thrombeys who are all distraught from the truth of Harlan's death.
Knives Out is riveting at its core. One thing that is so cool about this movie is that it straight up tells you what happened merely halfway through its runtime. The second half is the chaos that ensues after, from Ransom burning the evidence to the Thrombey's attempting to blackmail marta, to a whole different death. The problem with Knives Out is that its tone sometimes finds itself to be a bit repetitive after the big reveal. Each star shines in their own way in this film, but the shinning star in this movie is Ana De Armas as Marta. She played her so realistically since you could potentially make that character really hateable. In the end, Knives Out is a film that I could watch several times and noticed different clues or foreshadowing every single time now that I know the killer's true identity.
Overall, Knives Out gets a 8/10.