If you’re a fan of detective and whodunnit kind of films, then Knives Out is the film you’re looking for. Assembled with first-class actors that surely won’t disappoint you, the film also handled by the man behind Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson.
If you remembered The Last Jedi was filled with FEEEEEEELLLLIIINNNGGGGGGSSSSS, then I have to say that you’d better forget about them when you’re watching Knives Out. You shouldn’t get too attached to anyone in this film, because any of them could be the main suspect of the case that happened in the house of Thrombey.
The main plot is actually more like your regular detective story. One morning, the housemaid, Fran (Edi Patterson), woke up to prepare breakfast for the master of the house, mystery-author, Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). Alas, what she found instead was Harlan dead, most probably of suicide.
A week later, Harlan’s caretaker, Marta (Ana de Armas) received a phone call that summoned her back to the Thrombey house for a questioning session with the police. This time they were accompanied by the private detective, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, with a convincing Southern accent that sometimes has the British slipped out).
Each of the family members was questioned, and each of them provided an answer that caught the detective’s interest. To the point that each of their replies would make even the audience grew suspicious.
Until Benoit Blanc got to Marta, accidentally, since he caught her eavesdropping on his conversation with the police officers. There we discovered an interesting fact of Marta that could unlock the whole mystery in the house.
Things got “interesting” for Marta because Benoit thought this particular thing from Marta might be helpful for his investigation of the family. Little did he know, the immigrant girl also has a secret of her own.
The film is a perfect combination of mystery, family issues, and trainwreck. The audience will be given a reason not to believe every single family member. Also, each of them will contribute to something that will unleash the truth about what happened to their dear father/grandfather/father-in-law/son.
Yes, you read that right, Harlan’s mother, Greatnana Wanetta (K Callan), is still alive in the story. Given that Harlan was just celebrating his 85th birthday the night of his demise, Lord knows how old his mother would be.
Daniel Craig gave us a brilliant performance here. We’ve seen that his James Bond was a little unorthodox compared to the previous ones, including Pierce Brosnan. We knew that he could play a character that is not all strict and rough, but here in Knives Out, he really showed us the different side of his acting.
That made this photo of him and Chris Evans makes a lot more sense now.
Speaking of Daniel Craig and James Bond, your curiosity might be tickled, even more, knowing him and Ana de Armas will be in the new James Bond film, No Time To Die, next year. They both shared splendid chemistry and acting in this film.
Ah, yes, Captain America, Chris Evans, himself is in this film as the grandson with an interesting name, and also that famous sweater. With a character that reminded me a lot with his in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I’m so sorry, but really the clean-shaven look and piercing eyes of Chris were a major throwback to that particular film.
He did a great job this film, given that he was known as Captain America for more than a decade, this film showed that he’s ready to explore other characters and genres. I really enjoyed his performance in this film.
Ana de Armas was also superb in this film as Marta, the caretaker. Her character was the key to the case, and she was brilliant. We could feel her burden and look forward to how she will get through the issues that seemed to always add to what she already had before.
The cast was brilliantly assembled, besides James Bond, Captain America, and Captain Von Trapp. Johnson also called the graceful Jamie Lee Curtis as the first daughter, who had a unique way to communicate with her father. Don Johnson played as her husband, and they are the parents of Chris Evans. Such a beautiful family.
We also graced with Toni Collette’s hilarious performance as a hippie-like girl of the family with a daughter who went to a prestigious school (Katherine Langford). Also, Michael Shannon as Walter, the prince of the clan, and Jaeden Martell, who went from facing a demon clown to internet addict.
They all gave their best and most hilarious performance as one of the whitest family around.
As for Rian Johnson, I admire his writing. The way he scripted the film is admirable, the dialogues are ones that you should pay attention to find out what happened in the film.
And his directing?
Oh, how I love the way he framed his scenes, and the colours used are beautiful. I mean, the opening alone was brilliant. The film unfolded up with a gothic-styled beauty of the house and the tree on its yard. The framing stayed for a few seconds until you could see not one, but two dogs running towards the camera. You would think that this film is a long lost brother of The Omen and The Exorcist.
The Thrombey house was eerie, yet it looked like a quaint place to have a little getaway from every day’s hecticness. True to the occupation of the owner, the house also holds many mysteries ready to be unveiled. Some of them might help Benoit on the case.
The film just opened this week in Indonesia, and if you have spare time and money to see it, I highly suggest you go see it and be entertained. Next week we will be blessed with Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker, and with Frozen: Sing-A-Long also playing this week, Lord knows if Knives Out will survive long in cinemas.
See you in my next entry!
Disclaimer:
- Knives Out main poster came from https://www.traileraddict.com/
- Marta came from https://www.magazine-hd.com/
- The detectives came from https://screenrant.com/
- Greatnana came from https://flipboard.com/@AOLcom/
- Knives Out cast came from Entertainment Weekly’s TIFF 2019 photoshoot
- Ransom with his hole-y sweater came from https://ew.com/
- Knives Out characters came from https://ew.com/
- Watson and Blanc came from https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3824761
The Wolfe's Lair 
Leave a comment