NEW TO AMAZON PRIME REVIEW! There’s absolutely nothing wrong with nostalgia once in a while in our movies, and Rian Johnson’s Knives Out celebrates it. Johnson crafts a modern take on the whodunnit crime stories of the past and pulls in some fantastic celebrity appearances—Michael Shannon, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, and even Don Johnson. Love it!
This brilliant thriller is set in the present, taking advantage of cellphones and social media that wasn’t available to Agatha Christie so long ago. The victim of Knives Out is ironically the famed murder mystery novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). He amassed a considerable fortune in publishing his works and lords it over his three ungrateful children. His death appears to be a suicide as Thrombey slit his own throat, so says Lieutenant Elliott (LaKeith Stanfield) and Trooper Wagner (Noah Segan), but this is a murder mystery, which is where private investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) comes in.
“His death appears to be a suicide as Thrombey slit his own throat, so says Lieutenant Elliott…”
The prime suspects are Thrombey’s children, in-laws, and grandchildren, and their motives all surround his will. First is Harlan’s daughter, Linda Drysdale (Jamie Lee Curtis), her husband Richard (Don Johnson), and son, Ransom (Chris Evans). Richard is upset that Harlan was going to tell Linda about his affair, leaving him nothing according to the prenup. However, grandson Ransom was seen having a very loud and vocal argument with Harlan before his murder.
Next is daughter-in-law Joni Thrombey (Toni Collette) and daughter Meg (Katherine Langford). Joni was married to Harlan’s son before he died and has been embezzling money from her father-in-law to maintain her current lifestyle. Harlan just notified Joni, she’s about to be cut off.
"…so much wonderful family dysfunction and Grade-A narcissism..."
