A detective and a trooper travel to a lush estate to interview the quirky relatives of a patriarch who died during his 85th birthday celebration.
Knives Out has one heel of an ensemble cast. Chris Evans (Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe), Daniel Craig (the latest James Bond), Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween), Michael Shannon (Man of Steel), Toni Collette (Hereditary), Jaeden Martell (IT), Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why), Lakeith Stanfield (Sorry to Bother You), Don Johnson (Miami Vice), Christopher Plummer (Cyrano), and Ana de Armas (Blade Runner 2049). With such an extensive cast, the biggest risk is that they don't all get their chance to shine in this 130-minute whodunnit.
To an extent, that is true. With so many characters, the cast of Knives Out does not all get equal attention. The majority of the focus goes towards Craig and de Armas who, as our main characters, consequentially have the most engaging performances. The remainder of the adult family are relegated to supporting characters, with the youngest characters barely getting any dialogue in the film at all, their roles largely summed up as the focal point of all "alt-right/racist" and "SJW/snowflake" commentary.
Despite the majority of the cast only having minor parts to play, they ham it up well with a series of manipulative quirks that quickly fall away under pressure to reveal an obnoxious level of pretentious entitlement that was hidden beneath the friendly lovey-dovey exterior. There is an exaggerated manner in which everything around this family of characters occurs, which combined with the extremely selfish character traits, the very vibrant and bold colours onscreen, and drawling southern accents, create an altogether unreal framing to the film. It is surprisingly kooky at times, but what is the greater surprise, is the script.
The structure of the film is almost backwards to what you would traditionally expect from a murder mystery. Unlike other films where the audience is discovering the clues alongside the detective and we try to determine the culprit together, with Knives Out, director Rian Johnson has turned everything on its head showing the audience the true events that occur, through flashbacks. This creates a unique dynamic where the audience has more information than the detective, and we are waiting for him to catch up.
At least that is what Johnson wants you to think. In reality, the script is well-written with every little detail and every piece of dialogue having a specific purpose. Every time the audience thinks they have the answer, if there is a detail that isn't explained or brought into play, you can guarantee that they do not have the true culprit. While it isn't overly layered, there are enough little details and players in the game to have enough loose threads to keep you engaged for the first two acts.
Unfortunately, the third act isn't able to finish on a strong point, flipped the narrative structure back to a traditional whodunnit structure, which has fed the audience so much misdirection at this point, that events start to feel convoluted and inconceivable.
The cinematography is well done, with some great framing and camera angles to keep things moving, despite much of the film happening within the one house. The warm yet dark colour palette and the obscure set design and props in this rich family home create a significant contrast to the outside scenes that feel free of the claustrophobic trappings of wealth
De Armas is the most likeable character in the film and is the grounding element for the audience, being the one consistent character, no matter how much her moral compass is pushed. While Craig's accent is initially quite distracting, he manages to do so much in the role despite his stance as an observer. His complete and comprehensive attention to detail is the linchpin that makes this film work.
Overall, the final act doesn't manage to live up to the standard set up by the first two acts, but that is mostly due to the false summits written into the script, which greatly reduces the impact of the big reveal when the audience thought the film was meant to be over 15 minutes earlier. It drags Knives Out down from "brilliant" film status to a "pretty good" film. Still, the extent to which Johnson is able to wrap up all of the story elements is fascinating and impressive. Definitely still worth checking out.