Rian Johnson's Brilliant Whodunit Is Unceasingly Engaging

Rating: 8/10 (24 November 2019)

Ignore any noise being spouted from jaded 'Star Wars' fanboys. Rian Johnson is among the finest filmmakers currently working in Hollywood.
Consider his resume: he wrote and directed 'Brick;' he wrote and directed 'The Brothers Bloom;' he wrote and directed 'Looper;' he directed the Breaking Bad episodes 'Fly,' 'Fifty-One,' and 'Ozymandias;' and most recently he wrote and directed easily the best murder-mystery of the year, 'Knives Out.'
The plot is dense and brilliantly serpentine--just as one should expect from a quintessential film of the genre--taking on the characteristics of an ouroboros.
Each of the characters in the film are familiar, flawed, and driven by their own delightfully selfish motivations.
But it's the writing-oh the wonderful writing!-that makes this picture as powerful and poetic as it is. From the plot to the dialogue to the very last gasps of the denouement, Johnson keeps the audience completely rapt and on the edge of their seats wishing the saga could somehow continue ad infinitum.