The plot seems simple: Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) has made a big name in the cover genre. Thanks to astonishing actions and imaginative resolutions, he has millions of readers worldwide. Thereby also a lot of money. The day after his 85th birthday, the author is found dead in his chamber in what looks like an obvious suicide. But privateer Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is not so sure.
Although the "murder mystery" is well known as a movie genre, it is now rare. At least in the form called "closed doors", with a large ensemble and a "now I'll tell you just how the crime went, my company" feature that had a heyday in the 1940s. Director Rian Johnson is aware of this and has therefore provided Knives out with a charming nostalgic shimmer. For example, Thrombey lives in "a house from Cluedo", a Gothic mansion with antiques, creaking steps and barking dogs. The characters in the film have distinctive characteristics, such as walking with a crutch and talking distinct dialect, something Agatha Christie was keen to use.
But using the familiar is also a way to be fooled. We think we recognize ourselves. But just as director Jordan Peele uses the classic horror movie to tell about our contemporary in the movies Get Out and Us, Rian Johnson uses the cozy murder mystery movie from the past to say something about the here and now instead. The environment may be nostalgic, but we are in the present. The poirot figure, the grinning, just-right-handed Southern statesman Benoit Blanc, nicknamed "the last of the gentleman detectives," reveals not only the family of Thrombey's false alibin, but also another kind of lie, namely the one maintaining a facade. As noble values and political opinions you can swing with as long as you as long as they cost nothing.
In this way, the director follows in the footsteps of Agatha Christie, in her stories often the class aspect. And with it often a sense of justification . If you are convinced that you have been wronged, that you have been robbed of something that should accrue to yourself, a crime will not be a criminal act but a restoration of balance.
Having said that, this is not a political movie. It is not. Knives out is first and foremost an intricate mystery - and by intricate is meant a complicated case that has time to rotate 360 degrees several times before the solution is in place. In fact, I would not be able to accurately account for the exact course of events. Even under, eh, knife threat.
But the unpredictability also makes the movie entertaining. It's especially fun to see that stars like Jamie Lee Curtis, Daniel Craig and Chris Evans really let go and take the turns. Lee Curtis plays with the role of dad's favorite daughter Linda and Chris Evans having fun as the rich man's boy and the family's black sheep.
Knives out is a real ensemble film, and however enjoyable they tend to be messy. Characters are screwed up and exaggerated to be distinguished. The political commentary is sometimes quite clear, the contrasts between the elite and the footmen are markedly strong, but it is really small things that completely disappear from the consciousness when the final scene comes. Spectacular in its simplicity, clear in its commentary. I doubt that the great Harlan Thrombey ever wrote anything as good, millions of books sold despite.