Knives Out
Sharp modern-day murder mystery
With the exception of Kenneth Branagh’s star-studded adaptation of Murder On The Orient Express in 2017, the old-school whodunnit has all but disappeared from the big screen. That’s why Rian Johnson’s invigorating revival of the classic murder mystery comes as such a welcome surprise.
The Poirot of the piece is Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc, a southern gentleman detective hired to investigate the grisly death of famous mystery writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). The seemingly open-and-shut case of suicide is complicated by the fact Thrombey’s unscrupulous family all have their reasons for wanting him dead.
But the main character isn’t Blanc. Rather, it’s Marta (Ana de Armas), Thrombey’s immigrant care worker. Slowly revealing itself to be an insightful and subversive piece of sociopolitical storytelling, Knives Out is as much about modern America as it is the intellectual thrills of its twisty-turny script.
The joy of Johnson’s clockwork-precise plotting should not be underestimated. Knives Out satisfies as both a classical whodunnit – complete with a colourful cast of characters, clues sitting in plain sight and twists you (probably) won’t see coming – and as a thrilling reworking of a well-worn formula. Let’s just say you won’t be asking ‘whodunnit?’ much earlier than you might think. Also featuring a bonkers ensemble cast, including Captain America’s Chris Evans and Halloween legend Jamie Lee Curtis, Knives Out is a killer night in. Jordan Farley