A great rejuvenation of the murder mystery genre

Rating: 8/10 (8 December 2019)

Rian Johnson is a fantastic director. Even though many criticise him for ruining Star Wars with The Last Jedi, he has proven his skill in previous films like Looper. His new film Knives Out may be his best.
Knives Out follows Benoit Blanc, a detective hired to solve the mysterious death of Harlan Thrombey, the patriarch of the eccentric and conflicting Thrombey family.
I'm a big fan of the murder mystery genre so I was obviously very excited to this and the ensemble cast increased my anticipation. Rian Johnson has very cleverly and skilfully put together a fantastic homage to the "whodunnit" genre. The film has a very old fashioned feeling to it, despite its modern aspects, that is reminiscent of murder mysteries from the 1900s and the Clue board game. The set design, cinematography and costumes built up this incredible atmosphere to the time it's set in.
One of the best parts of this movie is the cast. Everyone did a fantastic job as their characters and played off one another exceptionally well. Daniel Craig, with his Southern accent, was really funny at times and his acting was really good especially during the third act. For me, personally, I thought the standout was Ana de Armas. She plays a crucial role in this story and this is the best I've seen her act.
Rian Johnson's direction is fantastic throughout as he incorporates a range of style to each shot but it's not just style over substance as his script is witty, hilarious and keeps you invested through the film's entirety. His take of this genre is vastly different from whodunnits in the past which made the experience better in my opinion as I constantly doubted myself on what direction the film was taking.
A character I felt was really underutilized was that of Jaeden Martell since he does not contribute much to the film compared to the rest of the cast. Apart from that I don't have any other complaints regarding this film.
Knives Out is a really fun time at the theatre. Just the premise of a whodunnit is interesting enough to watch but Rian Johnson's amazing direction, script and ensemble cast make this film shine and unique from previous whodunnits in the past. This is definitely my favourite film of his and cannot wait to see what other ideas he comes up with. Knives Out is one of the best films of the year.