Flipping the Whodunit genre on its head

Rating: 9/10 (22 February 2020)

Knives out is advertised as a whodunit movie. In a way it sort of is but this is Rian Johnson, he loves subverting expectations. Seriously though, this movie really subverts a lot of expectations. It's better to go into this movie with little to no knowledge which is why it is difficult to review this without giving away too much.
First off, this movie has an amazing cast with Daniel Craig pulling off an American accent as the private investigator. Chris Evans post Avengers work has him play a much more terrible character which is a huge contrast to Captain America. Christopher Plummer while a minor role gives a very lovable mystery novelist. Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson and Toni Colette give a very convincing performance as egotistic rich snobs. Ana de Armas must be praised as well for being able to convincing give the audience a sort of POV character in this massive all star cast. I will also give props to Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell and Noah Segan as well as they did a great job as well. The story and the screenplay is just phenomenal with the witty and charming dialogue. Likewise, the twist are smart and really keep the audience on its toes.
I do struggle to find negatives but I guess the one and only true blatant negative is the very obvious political message. "Right white conservative" are bad. The movie doesn't emphasise it a lot but there are scenes where is delves into these such as immigration and having the white rich characters talk quite negatively about it. Likewise emphasising how the children of Christopher Plummer's character have not earned anything of their own legitimately or have been given massive money to earn anything. It's a very simple and obvious message that anyone can see throughout the entire film. Additionally, maybe the misleading advertisement can be quite a deterrent to some viewers. As stated at the beginning, Rian Johnson completely flips the Whodunit genre on its head but the trailers and advertisement suggest it is just a typical whodunit story when it really isn't. To me this isn't exactly a negative but it could be seen as such to other viewers.
In conclusion, this is a must watch to everyone. It is such an entertaining movie and is a great reminded of films from the old Hitchcock days. While the director's previous work, The Last Jedi, was divisive; This movie is amazing. Give it a watch!