Knives Out (2019): A murder mystery film that is one of the most fun and exciting films to come in the last few years
Knives Out (2019) is directed by Rian Johnson and it is an Agatha Christie style murder mystery that is pure fun and one of the most exciting movies I have watched in years. Rian Johnson manages to keep us focused from start to finish with a magic touch. This film is definitely in the lines of, let’s say, something like Clue (1985), but I feel this is much better as it takes the Christie style premise and tries to sort of flip it in a way. I will explain as I go on.
Harlan Thrombey is a famous crime and mystery novelist and is situated in a very dramatic, luxurious mansion with his family. One morning, he is discovered dead with his throat slit by his housekeeper. It looks like a suicide, but it seems there is foul play, and so two cops come and investigate the case with the famous detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig). They interrogate the family one by one, starting with Harlan’s daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis), who is a self-made businesswoman and is married to Richard (Don Johnson), who has a son called Ransom (Chris Evans). Then there is the daughter-in-law Joni (Toni Colette) with her daughter Meg (Katherine Langford) and Harlan’s son Walt (Michael Shannon), who runs the publishing side and eventually gets into conflict with his father. Jaeden Martell is Walt's son, Jacob. But the highlight of the film is Martha Cabrera, played by Ana de Armas. She steals the show, as here the story does not revolve around the perspective of the detective but rather Martha and how she is involved in the case. This itself is a great subversion. I was talking about how usually when you read a Christie book or story, it will revolve around the detective’s perspective. I am not saying that here it does not. In fact, many of the scenes deal with Daniel Craig's character, but the whole story revolves around Martha Cabrera and it is just wonderful to watch. Another subversion I would like to talk about is the victim, Harlan Thrombey. Usually, in a Christie story or in any whodunnit, the victim would be of a malevolent character, but here it is the opposite: Harlan is a character of joy and benevolence. He only seeks what’s right for the family and cares deeply for them. This type of character subversion is a joy to watch, and it perfectly fits the plot. The other subversion that I would like to talk about is the detective Benoit Blanc. We are introduced to him as a very famous detective and many of the characters recognise him by reading his profile in the New Yorker. Benoit has a particular style to him, starting from his accent to his somewhat childish demeanour and how sometimes he only catches up to speed on some stuff lately. Rian has made tweaks to the so-called "detective" character, and that creates an amazing charisma, played fantastically by Daniel Craig.
Even with the subversion, Rian manages to keep the audience engaged and with such a vast set of characters played by famous actors, the spotlight is on Ana de Armas. As she is the heart of this story, not only will we root for her but find sympathy towards her. Ana plays the character with emotion and wonderful expressions. I believe she has been cast perfectly. Her character is also wonderful with the detective, and their scenes are written so well that we only have a smile on our faces. They are the opposite of Holmes and Watson characters, even though Benoits's character calls her Watson in some scenes. I don’t want to give much away as the film has so many surprising elements and you, as an audience, must experience the fun without knowing much.
Due to the vast casting, many characters don’t really get the limelight, but that’s ok because I feel all the characters got their due and Rian manages to create a wonderful assemblage of casts. The characters played by Jamie Lee Curtis and Chris Evans are also exceptionally great to watch, and this is solely due to their performances. He has also created a social message, or let’s say an undertone, that never creeps in through the entirety of the film and ruins it. It is handled correctly. That in itself must be credited with praise.
Rian has created in my mind one of the most perfect, fun, whodunnit movies in a long time, and I can’t remember a movie much like this. We have seen many TV series, but as a cinematic experience, this is close to an Agatha Christie novel, and I know because I have read many. That is why this film will be one of the most fun films to watch, and I can watch it anytime, as even though we get to know the revelations, we can come back to this film because of its craft in filmmaking and wonderful attention to detail to the plot and its character designs. This is one of those films I would say you should not miss if you want to have a fun and exciting time, and it’s been a long time since a movie has deliberately tried to do that perfectly.