Movie Review: Knives Out (2019)

Knives Out (2019) written and directed by Rian Johnson

Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is the patriarch of a good-sized family. He's also a popular mystery author who publishes two books a year, generating the wealth that supports his offspring. Thrombey is found dead the day after his 85th birthday. At first glance, the situation looks like suicide. But all of his descendants have reasons to kill him, mostly because he is cutting each and every one of them off from the family fortune in one way or another. The only one who feels guilty is his nurse/helper, Marta (Ana de Armas) even though she left the house before Harlan died. She has one big disability for a murder suspect--she throws up whenever she tells a lie.

If that isn't mysterious enough, famous detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) has been hired by an anonymous person to investigate the suicide. He cooperates with the police, though his laid back style makes the family members (and even viewers) wonder how interested he really is. Blanc asks a lot of penetrating questions and recruits Marta, who seems to have an air-tight alibi, as his assistant. The investigation proceeds in a clever and fun way.

The movie clearly borrows and owes a lot to Agatha Christie. Blanc has a name like Hercule Poirot though he has an accent like TV's Matlock (Andy Griffith, who does not appear in this movie). The murder of a family patriarch happens more than once in Christie's work and the old family manor house is a classic location, even beyond Christie. The investigation proceeds in a methodical and fun manner. Some clues are misinterpreted to both comic and dramatic effect. The movie also has a certain old-fashioned moral sensibility that is refreshing to see. As a homage to Christie's mysteries, this movie delivers the goods. Which means, of course, that it's a good mystery.

Highly recommended.