A modern update to the classic whoddunit

Rating: 10/10 (21 June 2020)

Written and Directed by Rian Johnson, Knives out is 2019 film starring an assemble cast including Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, a world-famous private investigator. Lakeith Stanfield as Detective Lieutenant Elliott, A local police detective, and Christopher Plummer as Harlan Thrombey, a wealthy mystery writer and the family patriarch. The film follows the Thrombey family as they are interviewed by Elliot and Blanc who are searching for Harlan's murderer after he is found dead the morning after his 85th birthday party. The films overall theme is that of having being kind in a world that is cruel. We see this through Marta Cabrera, Harlan's nurse, played by Ana de Armas. Marta is presented as innocent and honest. She even has a medical condition which makes it impossible for her to lie without becoming violently ill. This innocence is so endearing that viewer continues to root for her in the third act of the film after her actions are revealed alongside the other family members.
Viewers will likely see similarities between Knives Out and other classic murder mystery movies such as Clue and Murder on the Orient express. The films unique use of editing and framing set it apart and make it a worthy modern take on the genre. Rian Johnson routinely frames his shots with a Wes Anderson level of reverence for symmetry. This used particularly well in interview scenes where Elliot and Blanc are speaking to a single family member. This attention the shot composition and framing come to the forefront again in the way interviews are positions in front of a sculpture of large array of knives.
The films editing and sound design takes advantage of flashbacks and voiceovers to tell its story. Elliot, Blanc, and other characters use voiceover to narrate what the audience is seeing in a flashback. As the story progresses, the audience is shown the same event from multiple perspectives. What appears normal in one person's flashback, is revealed in another person's to be part of a larger plot. As the movie reveals its plot twist and the twist upon that twist, these flashbacks paint a clear picture and allow the audience to solve the crime along side the detectives. The films climax and final reveal are extremely satisfying because this editing technique immerses the viewer and makes them feel involved in the investigation.
Overall, knives out is an extremely fun movie with a familial theme that many movie goers can likely sympathize with. Rian Johnson did extremely well in this update to a genre that has seemingly fallen out of favor with large studios as of late.