Excellent murder-drama

Rating: 9/10 (19 April 2020)

Successful, extremely wealthy, crime-novelist Harlan Thrombey is found dead with his throat cut. The most likely cause is suicide but famed detective Benoit Blanc has been hired to investigate whether he was murdered or not. At least four of his relatives have a motive. Blanc finds an ally and useful source of information in Marta, Harlan Thrombey's nurse. However, Marta may know more than she is letting on.
Excellent murder-drama, written and directed by Rian Johnson. Highly original and intelligent plot that starts like a Hercule Poirot mystery but pretty quickly follows its own unique track. Quite clever audience manipulation by Johnson: you think you have it all sussed out...but you don't. Wonderfully unpredictable and murky, while appearing transparent.
All-star cast delivers in spades. Daniel Craig is great as Benoit Blanc, putting on a southern accent and pulling it off with aplomb. Supporting cast includes Don Johnson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette and Christopher Plummer and none of them put a foot wrong. The stand-out, however, is by the least-known cast member: Ana De Armas as Marta. She probably has the most screen time in the movie and is superb in her role.
A fantastic new slant on the murder-mystery drama, especially as the genre can be quite formulaic.