THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
I think the best thing about a whodunnit mystery is the fact that the truth can be found in unfamiliar places. And once they're found, the revelation is satisfying. In modern times, I don't think there is a whodunnit that does it better than Knives Out.
PLOT
The film takes place In Massachusetts and follows the mystery around wealthy novelist Harlan Thrombey, who appears to have taken his life after just turning 85 years old. Although Lieutenant Elliot and Trooper Wagner intend to open and shut the case, the unanimously hired private detective Benoit Blanc believes someone close to him is responsible. The list of suspects include everyone that was at his birthday party the night he died: His eldest daughter Linda, her husband Richard Drysdale, their son Hugh Ransom, Harlan’s youngest son Walt Thrombey, his wife Donna (Riki Lindhome), their son Jacob, Harlan’s widowed daughter in law Joni, her daughter Meg, the housekeeper Fran (Edi Patterson) and the nurse Marta. The family is mostly a suspect as during that night, Harlan confronted Richard for cheating on Linda, fired Walt from his publishing company and cut off Joni and Ransom. What Blanc does not know is that Marta accidentally mixed Harlan’s medications, believing to have overdosed him with morphine. Not wanting her to go through scrutiny, he helps her stage a fake alibi before slitting his own throat. However, his mother Wanetta ‘Great Nana’ (K Callan) saw her carry out his instructions and mistook her as Ransom. Due to her habit of vomiting whenever lying, she gives accurate but incomplete answers to Blanc. She does agree to assist the investigation, while concealing evidence of her actions. When Harlan’s will is read, the whole Thrombey family is in shock when it’s revealed that Marta will be his sole beneficiary. Despite being kind to her beforehand, they all choose to turn on her. Ransom on the other hand helps her escape the wrath from the others, coaxing her to tell him what happened, offering to help her in exchange for a share of the inheritance. The family intend to have Marta renounced, whereas Walt goes the extra mile by threatening to expose her mother’s immigrant status. Eventually, she gets a blackmail note that contains a partial copy of Harlan’s toxicology report. When she and Ransom check out the local medical examiner’s office, the building is found destroyed. They do get chased by Benoit at the scene, but Marta is able to attend an address she was emailed. Ransom would be held up since Great Nana believed to have seen him. At an abandoned building, she finds Fran on the ground drugged. After calling an ambulance for her, she confesses to Blanc of what happened. Not wanting her to confess to the family, he finds a full copy of the toxicology report: It turns out that he was given the right amount of medication and was never gonna overdose on morphine. With her being innocent, Blanc figures out exactly how Ransom is responsible: When Harlan told him Marta would gain full inheritance, he stole the antidote and swapped the vials’ contents to ensure she would be unknowingly responsible for his death. Once his death got reported, he unanimously hired Blanc to investigate. When Fran caught him tampering with the evidence, she sent him the blackmail note. He would retaliate by forwarding the note to Marta, destroying the medical examiners office and drugging Fran in hopes to frame Marta. With this revelation being completely shared, Marta would then get a call from the hospital that Fran has died, but would lie of it (and later vomit) to get Ransom to confess. When he does, Wagner records the whole thing. Realizing that he’s caught, Ransom tries to kill Marta with one of Harlan’s knives from his collection but fails as it he unknowingly grabbed a retractable stage knife. This would lead to him being officially arrested. As he is taken into custody, Linda finds a letter from her father that reveals the infidelity of her husband. Blanc would also confess to Marta that he was sure of her being a suspect when noticing a blood spot on her shoe. The film would end with the remaining Thrombey family looking above the mansion of their new sole beneficiary.
THOUGHTS
It's hard to maintain originality in this generation of filmmaking when Hollywood is dominated with franchise blockbusters. So when I got to check out this one before the COVID-19 pandemic, I found myself relieved to say this brings fresh air. Writer/Director Rian Johnson hooks everyone in with a puzzle that is too fun to crack. The path that he puts us on to get to the truth has us purely excited and whether or not you figure it out by the end, you're mostly satisfied when it all comes together. Add that with an ecstatic score by Nathan Johnson, it feels like this sub genre has become reinvented. I think the best thing that comes from this chase is that Rian is able to use this to call out the moral burden of wealth: No matter how much people love you, a part of them will just want to use you for their gain. Thanks to an incredible ensemble, we see each member of the Thrombeys show their true colors throughout while some don't even try hiding it. Getting into it, Jamie Lee Curtis showed Linda as the most complex as she showed the most sympathy towards her father. The love is real, but she couldn't help herself when it came to the money. She may come off as humble but when things aren't her way, she is about as short tempered as you'd expect from a teen. Don Johnson embraces himself to be the most entitled and oblivious of the family. He is easy to hate because he tries to act above everyone, which bites him in the ass. Seeing how unaware he was of discriminating Marta is unsettling, which only makes it later satisfying when he is called out. It's ironic how he gets himself caught because had he not thrown the ball out, Linda would've never found out of his infidelity. It was a breath of fresh air seeing Chris Evans playing the villainous Ransom after playing the heroic Captain America for the majority of the 2010s. He lives up to the hype of being the black sheep as he is openly selfish. The way he is able to manipulate Marta proves how he deeply had the brains of his grandpa. Had he figure out more loopholes around the scenario, he could've gotten out of it. Had he not confessed of killing Fran, he would've lasted longer. Seeing him get cuffed further proved that no scoundrel lives unpunished. On the bright side, it was hilarious when he savagely told the family to 'Eat shit'. Michael Shannon stood out for making Walt the least mature of Harlan's children that he refuses to be his own man. Getting fired by his dad was a wake up call just he couldn't accept, which led to him acting the most irrational. Jaeden Martell made a funny presence out of Jacob for being the most disconnected since he is attached to his phone. When he called Marta an anchor baby, it was stupidly funny for not making sense. Toni Collette left a interesting mark on making Joni a two faced person. She's this loose thread that you can't get rid of but you wish you can. She tries so hard to fit in but when rebuffed, she uses it to take advantage of the family that trusted her. Had she been considerate, she likely would never have been cut off. Since her husband died years prior, it makes you wonder how long it took for her to take shortcuts. Katherine Langford made Meg very debatable of a character. She appears to be the only one outside Harlan to have compassion towards Marta before being pressured by the family to convince her to surrender the inheritance. It's like she views her family and takes notes of what to not do, hence slowly creates her own moral compass. Seeing how everyone has created such a bad aspect of themselves, it becomes ironic to see how their patriarch is the one with a heart of gold. Christopher Plummer makes us love Harlan from the start because he's the most humble and chooses to naturally treat Marta as an equal. He may have hired her as a caregiver, but in reality, he was searching for a friend and he found the best one in her vice versa. His alibi for her is over the top but it works because no one suspected her until Benoit got involved in the case. Their family may not like his final decisions, but time will come for them to accept. The craziest easter egg I've noticed is how his portrait goes from having a stern look to a grin by the end. It's a nice way to acknowledge that he tips his hat from the grave to Marta. Speaking of which, the role of Marta proves that good will always find a strive. Ana de Armas does an incredible job in portraying her as the kindest woman on Earth. She may get uncomfortable, but never shows hatred. She deserves all the money in the world because Harlan recognized how her humble mindset resembled his. She is going through a personal upbringing that's different yet similar. Harlan started from nothing until he built his success. The cinematography was at full effect when she is in the room because you felt the suspense she was going through. The final shot of her drinking from Harlan's mug is pure satisfaction because it represents how she is finally in charge of her life for the first time and it will not change from here on out. Morally and literally, she was above the Thrombeys by the end of the story. Whatever she does with the money, it will come from nothing but wise decisions. Last but not least, you know it is a true whodunnit when there is an outcast that puts the pieces together. For this story, we get Benoit Blanc. Daniel Craig makes this character the true modern Hercule Poirot as he gives his all making him flamboyant and eccentric of a private detective. Due to how he looks at every angle, he doesn't find a bias and acts fairly towards the case. He may not say he's a good detective, but we know he is because he does figure it all out. He is generally a nice guy as well because even though he buys time for Marta with the reveal of the toxicology report, he is honest towards how he feels about the Thrombeys. His donut hole speech is ridiculous but smart because it reflects how we are able to find more about people than we anticipate. For him being a skilled detective, it makes sense why he is center of the franchise's future. The only characters that shouldn't have been as interesting and became so in the end were Elliot and Wagner. Lakeith Stanfield and Noah Segan were such a dynamic duo for being polar opposites in their given roles. Stanfield plays Elliot pretty straightforward, whereas Segan shows off Elliot to be the most excited of the case. Due to being a fan of Harlan's work, I don't blame him. The biggest laugh Segan gave me was near the climax because I've never seen someone so happy to see Marta vomit. This movie deserves all the love in the world, but even one as great as this had a share of confusing moments for me. Going into continuity errors, why would Wagner record the opening conversation with Linda by her last name? She ain't the only one to get interviewed, so he should've added her first name initial. I really didn't think there would be any continuity errors upon re watching, but god I felt so confused when Richard throws the baseball towards a closed window and it doesn't break. If they showed the hidden window that was open, I would've not brought it up. The flashbacks do confirm Joni, Richard and Walt lying to Blanc during the interview, but Blanc makes it confusing when he says all three lied to him since he interviewed Meg and Linda as well before Marta. If he wants us all to be clear on who are exact suspects, then he should've said "At least three". I admire Harlan for his quick thinking of the fake alibi, but I feel like he should've expressed he wasn't feeling the morphine after Marta left. As calm as he was the whole time, it's crazy that he didn't have a second thought. It is an interesting clue that the drop of blood on Marta's shoe is what makes her a suspect, but how did it get there? She was on the opposite side of the room when Harlan slits his own throat. So if she was in fact closer than she thought, that should've been confirmed. Of course the family all thought their patriarch died of suicide, which is technically what happened, but since Blanc was sure someone was responsible, why didn't anyone bring up the trick door? If Walt, Richard & Joni knew of it, that would've made them even less of a suspect. I do understand that Blanc keeps Marta close because he is sure she's a suspect, but if that's how he feels, he shouldn't have let her be involved with the clue gathering because that's how she covers his tracks. Both are pretty lucky this doesn't affect them. It should've definitely bit Blanc in the ass when he let Marta operate the VCR. If I were to go any further, Harlan or his children should've upgraded the security systems incase of any situation like this. That security system is arguably better because it had more than the medical examiner's office, which is embarrassing. It gets more embarrassing when there is no saved recording the night Ransom destroyed the office. Ransom did have a smart plan, but why leave it to chance with the vials? If he wanted the dogs out of his way, he should've bought some steaks and kept going through. Had he done that, Fran likely would not have caught him. Also, why did Blanc and the cops let Marta leave with Ransom in the first place? That should've made her a bigger suspect after the revelation of her earning Harlan's inheritance. And why did Blanc wait until after the will reading to talk to Great Nana? I feel like he should've done that right before questioning Marta. I know the Thrombeys are desperate to get their wealth back, but why would Walt think it was a good idea to corner Marta? She is easy to scare, but there were media reporters outside her home that could've saw him go through the back. It's pretty surprising how that didn't even happen. On top of that, why was Marta's medical bag left behind when the cops began investigation? That's massive evidence that could've saved Marta's ass before Blanc. Marta was smart to lie to Ransom about Fran's condition, but god her response was uncomfortable. She tells the doctor that's great news when she in fact died. All I think about is what the doctor's reaction could be because I don't think anyone would fathom a response like that. Ignore this, and you're still in for a ride. Overall, Knives Out is the best modern whodunnit for making it so goddamn fun to solve crime. If you love solving real or fictional mysteries, see this now.
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