Knives Out

“I suspect foul play. I have eliminated no suspects.”

Filmology Rating: 3.17 out of 4

Knives Out was written and directed by Rian Johnson coming off of 'The Last Jedi.' This film has one of the most star-stacked films of the year with Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Christopher Plummer, Ana de Armas, and even a little surprise from a 'Last Jedi' cast member. 

Essentially, we have a film where Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) has committed suicide, but Detective Blanc (Daniel Criag) suspects that he was murdered. Now we have a who-dunnit plot, but also not really. I will be careful not to spoil anything. 

Just looking at the screenplay alone, it's absolutely brilliant the way Johnson crafted this twisted web of a story. Especially today, it is very difficult to make a murder mystery film because of how lockstep the genre has been in recent years from films like 'Murder on the Orient Express' and 'Murder Mystery.' 'Murder Mystery' especially was so conventional and banal. 

Funny enough, Rian Johnson has subverted our expectations, again. I was someone who defended Johnson and 'The Last Jedi' for a long time and finally here is a film that proves how brilliant of a filmmaker Rian Johnson is. If you've actually seen every other film of his, you would already know that. 

The performances also hold up a considerable amount of the film. Many have tossed around Daniel Craig's name for a Best Supporting Actor nominee. He definitely was slicing a good amount of ham with his southern accent, but amongst this entire film's huge cast of great actors, Ana de Armas is the stand out as she is the one you largely follow throughout the narrative.

The comedy is also something to mention because 'The Last Jedi' did have some poor comedy attached to it, which is beginning to become more and more apparent that it was Disney who forced a lot of that into that particular film because 'Knives Out' has very clever humor. It's just interesting to see a filmmaker make a movie without studio barriers like Disney and comparing the two films side-by-side to see what mandates that studio had. 

This twist on the genre plays with the idea of how much information is given to the audience and when. It was rather odd at first to have too much information, but that's just the genius of this film. It forces you to work ahead of the film, which is just Johnson setting you up. 

The only real issue is that there is a disappearance of a lot of the supporting cast about halfway through. However, the film does neatly tie their subplots up eventually. 

This film should win Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars because I cannot even fathom writing a screenplay this complex and interwoven.  The performances are all outstanding, the story is gripping, and I guarantee you won't "figure it out."

Rating: See It

-Nolan