Knives Out (2019) Review

 

Knives Out (2019)

Knives Out follows detective Benoit Blanc, who is called to investigate the mystery of an authors death, whose circumstances surrounding his “suicide” rival that of one of his mystery novels.

2019 was such a good year for movies and Knives Out is certainly no exception, being one of the more underrated and unexpectedly terrific films of an already stacked year. Being the son of a Clue fanatic, I have a great deal of respect for the game and the movie and so I was pleasantly surprised when this not only rivaled that but reinvented Clue. Usually when you have this many characters and a complex story, there is some sacrifice that is needed but each character was blended wonderfully within the murder mystery, with each having their own unique traits, quirks, and personalities that engage the viewer and make you question things more than you should.

What’s most interesting is the movie gives you *most* of the answer almost immediately, which is an odd creative choice because it throws all suspense out the window but it’s also genius in that you almost don’t expect that rest of the twist at the end, which was mostly obvious but still entertaining due to its complexity. Having the one approachably likable guy in the whole film (out of a family of raging assholes) turn out to be the mastermind behind it all was pretty smart and in some weird way, you have to admire the mystery, knowing that Harlan would’ve loved such an ending, however tragic it was.

The cast is loaded with greats here, starring Michael Shannon, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Plummer, LaKeith Stanfield, Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, and Ana de Armas. I quite liked de Armas’ soft innocence, compared to the strong opposite of everyone else. Craig and Evans were also really compelling though, and made this thoroughly enjoyable.

Knives Out, directed by Rian Johnson, is a good old fashioned whodunnit murder mystery that draws a lot of thematic and visual inspiration from the likes of Agatha Christie, being a bizarre but fresh addition to such a classic genre that does an excellent job of keeping you on your toes.

9.3/10