Member review

This is a murder mystery film about the Thrombey family. Knives out is about detective Benoit Blanc trying to find out who murdered the patriarch of the family, Harlan Thrombey, on his 85th birthday. Everyone is a suspect… but who did it?

Knives out is a murder mystery and effectively shows that through the camera angles. One way it does this is by referencing knives around the whole house. The reason for this is that in every scene with key information (truth) that Benoit Blanc finds that might be useful to find the murderer, there is a knife in the background. However, in the scenes with uncompleted evidence, the knife is towards the edge of the frame, showing that not all evidence is found. By doing all of this, the film creates a tension so you are always wondering what the detective will do next. Also, the camera angles show the different levels of power in each character. For example, Linda (Harlan’s daughter) is sitting in a dominant pose which is shown through the camera angles. This is because the camera is facing the front and middle of her body from under her. This shows that she is the most respected character in the film.

This film is a murder mystery and its setting shows that. The house looks like the Cluedo mansion. The fog shows the mystery and the dogs are quite threatening. By dong this, the film creates a menacing atmosphere and creates tension.

In conclusion, I think that Knives Out is a great portrayal as a murder mystery because it has a detective trying to find the clues to figure out who did the murder. It also has a wide variety of colourful characters that are all suspects, but in the end, only one did the murder.