Knives Out (series)

KNIVES OUT (12)

D: Rian Johnson

Lionsgate/Media Rights Capital/T-Street (Ram Bergman & Rian Johnson)

USA 🇺🇸 2019

130 mins


Mystery/Thriller


W: Rian Johnson

DP: Steve Yedlin

Ed: Bob Ducsay

Mus: Nathan Johnson

PD: David Crank


Daniel Craig (Benoit Blanc), Ana de Armas (Marta Cabrera), Chris Evans (Hugh Ransom Drysdale), Jamie Lee Curtis (Linda Drysdale), Michael Shannon (Walt Thrombey), Toni Collette (Joni Thrombey), Christopher Plummer (Harlan Thrombey)


Written and directed by Rian Johnson, Knives Out is a twist on an Agatha Christie style murder mystery played with some style by a magnificent ensemble cast.

The story is mostly shown from the perspective of Marta Cabrera, an emigre nurse and trusted aide to Harlan Thrombey, the patriarch of a family who have become incredibly wealthy due to his publishing empire.  Daniel Craig also stars as an expert sleuth who is hired under mysterious circumstances to investigate the murder.

Found with his throat slit following his birthday celebrations, the mystery unravels as the family are once again reunited for both the police investigate and the reading of the will, and every single one of them are suspects.

The plot twist of this film is that we find out very early on in the film who is responsible for the death, but there's much more to this whodunit which makes for a very satisfying reveal in the final act.

Armed with great characters and witty one-liners, the film also hints at having an ulterior motive, with Rian Johnson having a sly dig at people who didn't enjoy his Star Wars movie (The Last Jedi, which was met with some very negative reviews, my own included).  Of course, this is just a theory that can be treated with a pinch of salt, and as such, I'm not going to entertain the specifics.

As for the film itself, it's a very well crafted piece of work and possibly the most original of its genre to have hit the screen since 1985's Clue, which I thought was a fun film without being brilliant. However, this film is quite excellent and will certainly be amongst my favourite films of 2019.

8/10


Knives Out
Knives Out

GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (12)

D: Rian Johnson

Netflix / T-Street (Ram Bergman & Rian Johnson)

US 🇺🇸 2022

139 mins


Mystery/Thriller/Comedy


W: Rian Johnson

DP: Steve Yedlin

Ed: Bob Ducsay

Mus: Nathan Johnson

PD: Rick Heinrichs

Cos: Jenny Eagan


Daniel Craig (Benoit Blanc), Edward Norton (Miles Bron), Janelle Monae (Helen Brand / Andi Brand), Kathryn Hahn (Claire Debella), Leslie Odom, Jr. (Lionel Trossaint), Kate Hudson (Birdie Jay), Dave Bautista (Duke Cody)


Rumours of a sequel to Knives Out circulated as soon as the first film was released to great acclaim, with a series of films centred around Poirot-esque sleuth Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) being a genuine possibility.

Rian Johnson obviously got to work on this sequel during the lockdown of the 2020 pandemic, seeking inspiration from people he disagreed with on Twitter with Edward Norton and Dave Bautista being obvious stand-ins for Elon Musk and Joe Rogan, respectively.

Daniel Craig is the only star reprising his role from the first film in this murder mystery satire, where a filthy rich entrepreneur with no discernible knowledge or talent invites the people who made him rich to his private island for “murder mystery weekend”, only for the super sleuth Benoit Blanc to be inadvertently invited and an actual murder takes place.

Like the first film, the ensemble cast are excellent and can’t be faulted, but the story is nowhere near as clever or original as the first movie. In fact, it’s quite stupid when you think about it in depth, not to mention completely predictable, but it’s easy to turn a blind eye to the inadequacies of the plot when the performances are good and other elements of the production, such as the set design are so mesmerising to look at.

Rian Johnson is capable of making some thought-provoking, original movies and is a genuinely good filmmaker and screenwriter, but he just can’t seem to nail sequels without being snarky to people he doesn’t like on the internet.

That aside, it’s an enjoyable, albeit overlong watch, which probably should have had a longer cinematic release (it was in theatres for merely a week) before it was snaffled up for exclusivity on Netflix’s streaming service.

6/10


Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery