For my next series, I wanted to focus on one of my favorite modern trilogies: Knives Out. Each installment of the trilogy follows Benoit Blanc and a cast of eccentric characters as Blanc works to solve a murder. There’s a lot that could be said about the trilogy as a whole, but we’ll start with the first installment: 2019’s Knives Out. Knives Out follows Benoit Blanc, who is hired to investigate the death of renowned mystery writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) on his 85th birthday. As his family anxiously awaits the reading of his will, Blanc must determine if his death was indeed a suicide or a murder. The ensemble cast includes Ana De Armas, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, and Toni Collette, among many others. Before we go any further, I want to issue a formal spoiler alert.
Development of the film dates back to 2005, when writer/director Rian Johnson wrote and directed Brick. Brick follows a teenager (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) as he investigates the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend. Inspired by the films of Alfred Hitchcock and the works of Agatha Christie, Johnson sat on the idea of modernizing a classic mystery story for years. In the meantime, he directed The Brothers Bloom and Looper. After completing Looper, he intended to return to his mystery movie. Still, he put it on the back burner when Lucasfilm hired him to direct Star Wars Episode VIII – The Last Jedi. It was only when The Last Jedi was completed that Johnson turned his attention back to his mystery. He started writing the film in January 2018 and finished it by that Summer. By October, Media Rights Capital agreed to produce the movie, and Lionsgate decided to distribute. In addition to generous back-end deals for Johnson, Daniel Craig, and producer Ram Bergman, Johnson retained the character rights.
From the start, Johnson wanted a star-studded cast, ala Death on the Nile and Evil Under the Sun. Craig was selected based on his non-Bond work, including his stage productions. Craig, however, had to turn down the role due to his commitment to No Time to Die. When Danny Boyle dropped out of directing the film, and it was delayed by three months, Craig signed on. For the part of Harlan’s nurse/confidant, Marta, the casting directors were looking for a relative unknown. Johnson was not familiar with De Armas’ work, save for Blade Runner 2049. However, after auditioning, she got the part. For the part of Ransom, Harlan’s prick grandson, Chris Evans was Johnson’s first choice for the role. Evans intended to take a break after completing Avengers: Endgame, but took the role after learning the film would be shot near his Massachusetts home. The parts for Shannon, Curtis, and Collette were also written with them in mind, and they did not have to audition.
Filming began in October 2018. Johnson found two estates to double as the Thrombey estate: one for interiors and one for exteriors. Johnson and the cinematographer, Steve Yedlin, used many wide lenses to emphasize world-building by showing the many characters in their surroundings. They also used zoom lenses, as zooming in is one of Johnson’s signature moves as a director. Because the script only called for a few key elements, Production Designer David Crank and his crew had fun coming up with props that would fit not only Harlan’s interests, but the estate’s homely aesthetic. Finally, the film was scored by Johnson’s cousin, Nathan Johnson, before its release.
Great, Nick. You covered the film’s inception and production. Nothing we couldn’t read on Wikipedia. Do you have any original thoughts? Yes, I suppose I do, but I have to be careful not to spoil the film. For starters, I love the characters and their interactions. I think each one is so well defined and perfectly cast. You, of course, have Daniel Craig as gentleman sleuth Benoit Blanc. His process of thinking out loud in his southern accent makes for some hilarious quips: “A perfectly impossible crime with a hole in the middle, a donut!” Ana De Armas is bright and sweet as Marta. She projects an innocence that nobody else in the film has. She also has a tell when it comes to lying. Lying makes her vomit, or, as Blanc says, “A regurgitative reaction to mistruthin’.” Realizing that she has nothing to gain from Harlan’s death, Blanc recruits Marta to be his Watson and the two investigate the crime.
The Thrombey family is so well cast. Christopher Plummer (in one of his final film roles) plays the patriarch of the family whose death is under investigation. As his eldest child, Linda, Jamie Lee Curtis often feels like the only adult in the room. Her husband, Richard (played perfectly by Don Johnson), is a cheater. Their son, Ransom, played by the aforementioned Chris Evans, is a little shit (as many call him). Harlan’s son, Walt (played by the consistently excellent Michael Shannon), controls Harlan’s publishing empire, but longs for more control. He’s married to the dimwitted and sometimes racist Donna, with whom he shares a 16-year-old son, Jacob (Jaeden Martell), who is “politically active,” to say the least. Then there is Joni (Toni Collette), a free-spirited and wannabe lifestyle guru, widowed by Harlan’s son, and her liberal college daughter, Meg (Katherine Langford). Topping off the family is Harlan’s mother, Greatnanna (they don’t know how old she is), played by K. Callan. Adding to the cast are Edi Patterson as Fran, the Thrombeys’ housekeeper, LaKeith Stanfield as Detective Elliott, and Noah Segan as Trooper Wagner.
One of the most effective ways Johnson introduces the characters is by presenting them in a “talking head” style you might see in a documentary. Instead of being a documentary, however, each family member is being interviewed by Detective Elliott and Trooper Wagner, with Blanc observing. This element helps differentiate the characters and teach the audience more about each one. For instance, it’s clear that Linda is in charge of the family and is close with Harlan. This is tough on Richard, who feels like his wife steps over him. Walt comes across as weak and somewhat helpless with his limp; the “Fredo” of the Thrombeys, if you will. Joni is presented as completely clueless. She wants to be an Instagram influencer and seems to have no idea the contempt the rest of the family has for her. She’s a stark contrast to Linda. This is especially evident in Blanc’s introduction. “I read a tweet about a New Yorker profile: The Last of the Gentleman Sleuths,” Joni tells him. “I know who you are, Mr. Blanc,” Linda informs Blanc. “I read your profile in the New Yorker. I thought it was delightful.”
The interview style, paired with the editing, allows for moments of great humor. For instance, Blanc tries to get Linda to talk about Walt’s role in the publishing company when he asks about adaptations of Harlan’s work. Linda looks him in the eyes and asks, “Are you baiting me, detective?” She continues. “If you think, you are going to get me to sit here and shit talk my baby brother-” “Walt doesn’t run shit,” Richard chimes in as the film smash cuts to his interview. “Harlan didn’t allow adaptations of his work,” Richard continues. “No,” Blanc feigns confusion. Another great moment of editing occurs when Walt is talking about his family. He describes his son as “politically active” before cutting to Richard and Meg, who say, “the boy is literally a nazi,” and call him “an alt-right troll,” respectively.
Many funny moments don’t rely on editing. A couple running jokes pop into my head. The first is that every time a family member encounters Marta after Harlan’s death, they remark, “I thought you should have been at the funeral, but I was outvoted.” Another returning joke is nobody knowing for sure which Central American country Marta comes from. Different family members tell the detectives that Marta’s family comes from Ecuador, Uruguay, Paraguay, and, as Ransom refers to her, “Harlan’s Brazilian nurse.” Other funny moments include the security on the estate being so outdated that it relies on VHS tape for surveillance, and Greatnanna always popping up like a vampire when you least expect it, laughing at the will reading when the family gets nothing. Later in the film, Jacob brings up the slayer rule, which would nullify a will if the beneficiary is convicted of killing the person in the will. Alan, their lawyer, corrects him, “Not even convicted, but found responsible in civil court.” “Just like O.J.,” Walt chimes in. “Yes, like O.J.,” Alan responds, almost proud that one of these people said an intelligent thing. Towards the end of the film, Ransom chides Marta for taking their “birthright, their ancestral home.” This causes Blanc to break out in laughter and informs him that Harlan purchased the house from a Pakistani billionaire in the 80s. Then, there’s my favorite line in the film, uttered by Mr. Blanc himself. “What was overheard by the nazi child masturbating in the bathroom?”
While each supporting character brings an element to the film, the character at its heart is Marta. She has three significant relationships. The first one is Harlan. As she explains to Detective Elliott, Trooper Wagner, and Blanc, she was initially hired for 15 hours a week, but that increased to 30 hours a week. “Because he needed more help,” asks Detective Elliott. “Because he needed a friend,” she corrects him. This statement couldn’t be more true. Marta is the first person he tells when he discovers that Richard is having an affair, or when Joni is double-dipping on Meg’s tuition. He confides to her that on his birthday, he plans to cut each of his kids out of his will. She comforts him, telling him that he did the right thing. She also has a sense of humor, especially when they play their nightly game of GO. Harlan looks forward to their games, and although she isn’t as into the game as he is, she plays along. She gets in the spirit with comments like, “I will whip your ass, old man,” and “don’t make me get the belt.”
Most importantly, Harlan thinks highly of and cares for her. This is most evident when they both believe she accidentally poisoned Harlan by giving him too much morphine. Marta wants to call the police to save Harlan’s life, but Harlan thinks it’s no use. Instead, he wants to protect Marta and her mother (who is here illegally), so he uses his remaining time to craft a story so airtight that she goes from suspect number one to eliminated. The most apparent sign that Harlan cares for her is that he leaves his entire fortune to her without her knowing.
The second meaningful relationship is the one between Marta and Blanc. Blanc trusts Marta because she was the only one who didn’t have anything to gain from Harlan’s death (initially) and knew she would be a good partner since she cannot lie without vomiting. Before the will reading, he recruits her to help with the investigation. Her intimate knowledge of Harlan’s motives behind his actions on the night of his murder would come in handy. Feeling that she might be responsible for Harlan’s death, albeit accidentally, she takes advantage of this situation. She knowingly steps in the mud outside the estate, effectively ruining any prints. She demagnetizes the VHS tape from the security office that could incriminate her and ruins potential crime scene elements, leading to the secret entrance outside Harlan’s study. Despite this, Blanc knows that there’s more she isn’t saying, thanks to a minuscule blood drop on her sneakers. Regardless of the misinformation, Blanc believes that she did not intend to play a part in Harlan’s death. He even jumps in to stop her from renouncing the will in front of the Thrombey family when he reads the results of Harlan’s toxicology report. He reaffirms to Marta that she knew the difference between the morphine and the other drug because she is a good nurse. He also reminds her at the end of the film to remember that she won, not by playing Harlan’s game, but by hers.
The final meaningful relationship Marta has is with the Thrombeys as a whole. In the days after Harlan’s death, they treat her kindly. Many even tell her that she is part of the family. When police officers mistake her for the help, Meg comes to her defense, calling the police “assholes.” When Marta starts getting anxious at the memorial, Meg introduces her to Fran’s stash of marijuana, a move that shows she is more than family. Meg and Walt also tell Marta that they want to help her since she was like family. This facade, of course, cracks when Harlan leaves everything to Marta. They all go after, with Linda accusing her of “boinking her dad” and Jacob calling her a “dirty anchor baby.” When the dust settles, Meg, who has always presented herself as a friend, calls Marta and tells her that she will have to drop out of school because Joni cannot afford the tuition. Marta, with her kind heart, tells Meg that it won’t happen. Once Meg hears what she wants, she hangs up, and the family ominously listens in. Perhaps the most telling scene is when Walt appears at her apartment, trying to convince her to renounce the inheritance. She puts up with the bullshit, but Walt makes one big mistake: she threatens her mother by bringing up her legal status. With that, her whole demeanor changes. She recognizes that no one in the family is actually her friend, and she proudly claims that she will be okay with the top lawyers that Harlan left her, who no longer belong to the family. She finally takes control of her destiny.
I’ve spoken a lot about the characters and the construction of the writing. As a director, Johnson employs many effective storytelling techniques. For instance, he uses unique transitions. One that comes to mind starts in Harlan’s study. Frustrated, Richard throws a baseball through the glass window. The next shot shows Blanc, Elliott, and Wagner walking outside, with Blanc lighting a cigar, as the baseball lands on the grass and rolls out of frame. Another effective technique is to use Harlan’s voiceover to explain his elaborate plan for Marta to avoid becoming a suspect while she enacts it. Another notable shot is the scene in which Marta flees the house after being named in Harlan’s will. Johnson uses a handheld camera, which adds to the discomfort and disorientation Marta feels as the characters yell at her and demand money. It goes hand in hand with storytelling, but I do like how Johnson shoots a lot of the same scenes from different perspectives. I think it’s effective and impactful in showing how each character perceives the crime. Without giving too much away, I do also appreciate the ending shot. It’s simple yet powerful. Perhaps, most importantly, Johnson uses flashbacks to significant effect to help unravel the murder mystery.
When the film was released in November 2019, the reviews were overwhelmingly positive. Johnson earned his first Academy Award in the Best Original Screenplay category, although it lost to Parasite. If there was one award I wish the film had won, or even been nominated for, it was the Best Ensemble award at SAG. It lost to Parasite, but this is a textbook example of a stellar ensemble. Everyone played off of each other so nicely, and it looked like the cast was having a blast. The film does have a special place in my heart. When I was going to school in Chicago, students were invited to a special screening at the local AMC. It wasn’t a test screening, but it was an advanced screening. I had no expectations, but I was blown away by the film, its characters, and its intricate plot. I was so blown away that when I visited home for Thanksgiving, I dragged my dad to the theater to see it. He loves mysteries, but most of the time, he can figure them out about halfway through the film. Not this one. My dad isn’t a movie guy like I am, so I always felt good showing him a film that I knew he would like. That was what made the movie special to me.
Overall, this is such a well-written film. The plot and mystery are so well constructed, and I love how Johnson presents everything to you, but each time he does, it requires a closer look. I know how the film ends. I see the mystery, yet there’s always something I catch on the re-watch. Most notably, though, I rewatch the movie because of the characters. Benoit Blanc is a great character who has now led two other films. I’ve said it before, but the other characters are so unique. Except Marta and Blanc, they’re all rich, entitled assholes, but they are a lot of fun to watch interact. Back in August, I saw the movie Clue for the first time, and I wasn’t a fan. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that I saw this movie first, and I wish Clue had the same level of mystery and character that this film did. Almost unsurprisingly, Johnson replicated the success of this film with two sequels that are vastly different from each other. In doing so, I think Johnson created one of the best modern trilogies, although there could be room for more.
Up next is my post on Glass Onion.