Knives Out (2019)

“Knives Out” is a whodunnit murder mystery that takes inspiration from Agatha Christie’s novels, but with a ‘we get it’ feel, with the film making fun of the tropes you can find in almost any Agatha Christie novel. The film follows ‘Detective Benoit’ (Daniel Craig) who is investigating a family whose father ‘Harlan’ (Christopher Plummer) had died on the night of his birthday, when his entire family were present. The suspects include ‘Ransom’ (Chris Evans), ‘Marta’ (Ana de Armas), ‘Linda’ (Jamie Lee Curtis), ‘Walt’ (Michael Shannon), ‘Richard’ (Don Johnson), ‘Joni’ (Toni Collette), ‘Meg’ (Katherine Langford) and ‘Jacob’ (Jaeden Leiberher).

The film obviously has an all-star/ensemble cast and a lot of them are great in the film, but there are just some characters who I wish got more screen time. Some just fade into the background. There is a specific plot line that is dropped for most of the film and then re-introduced at the end. Every character is very enjoyable to watch when they actually on screen.

The Writer/Director of the film, Rian Johnson (Looper and Star Wars: The Last Jedi) did an excellent job with the tone of the film. It isn’t afraid to make fun of itself and its own inspirations. Some critics have said it ruined the film for them and they wanted it to be dark and serious. If the film actually did that, I probably would have liked it less.

What I found really interesting was the film’s colour palate. It is not shot like a dramatic horrifying murder mystery, it doesn’t look like “Murder on The Orient Express” or “Seven”, it is shot with a bright colour palate, showing off the characters wealth and success. Even scenes that are set at night avoid the traditional horror aesthetic. I think this style works because the film isn’t a run of the mill murder mystery, it’s a parody of this style of film. So the cinematography reflects that with a bright aesthetic.

In conclusion, while “Knives Out” isn’t perfect, it is very enjoyable and clever. I’d recommend this to basically anyone who enjoys movies, even people who don’t like ‘Murder Mystery’ films.