Knives Out

''Knives Out'' is a 2019 American mystery film written, directed, and co-produced by Rian Johnson. It follows a master detective, Benoit Blanc, investigating the death of the patriarch of a wealthy, dysfunctional family. The film stars an ensemble cast that includes Daniel Craig as Blanc, alongside Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, and Christopher Plummer.

Johnson conceived ''Knives Out'' in 2005 and decided to make the film after completing ''Looper'' in 2012. However, due to his involvement in '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi'', he did not write the screenplay until 2017. The project was officially announced in 2018, and sold to distributors during the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. Filming ran from October to December 2018.

''Knives Out'' premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2019 and was theatrically released in the United States on November 27 by Lionsgate Films. It received widespread critical acclaim, particularly for its screenplay, direction and acting, and grossed $311.9 million worldwide on a $40 million budget. It was named one of the top ten films of 2019 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute. It received three nominations at the 77th Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, while also receiving Best Original Screenplay nominations at the 73rd British Academy Film Awards and 92nd Academy Awards.

In March 2021, Netflix paid $469 million for the rights to two sequels written and directed by Johnson, with Craig reprising his role. The first, '' Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery'', was released in 2022.

Plot

The family of Harlan Thrombey, a wealthy mystery novelist, attends his 85th birthday party at his Massachusetts mansion. The next morning, Harlan's housekeeper, Fran, finds him dead with his throat slit. Lieutenant Elliot and Trooper Wagner believe Harlan's death to be suicide, but private detective Benoit Blanc is anonymously hired to investigate. Blanc learns Harlan's relationships with his various family members were strained: On the day of his death, Harlan threatened to expose his son-in-law Richard for cheating on his daughter Linda, cut off his daughter-in-law Joni's allowance for stealing from him, fired his son Walt from his publishing company, and had an altercation with his grandson Ransom.

Unknown to Blanc, Harlan's nurse, Marta Cabrera, accidentally mixed up his medications, making her think she overdosed him with morphine, and was unable to find the antidote, leaving Harlan only minutes to live. Wanting to save Marta's family from scrutiny (her mother being an undocumented immigrant), Harlan gave her instructions to create a false alibi and then slit his own throat. Harlan's elderly mother saw Marta carrying out his instructions but mistook her for Ransom. Marta cannot lie without vomiting, so she gives accurate but incomplete answers when questioned. She agrees to assist in Blanc's investigation and conceals evidence of her actions as they search the property. When Harlan's will is read, to everyone's shock and anger, Marta is the sole beneficiary. Ransom helps her escape the family's wrath, but he manipulates her into confessing to him; he offers his help in exchange for a share of the inheritance. The other Thrombeys try to persuade Marta to renounce the inheritance; Walt threatens to expose her mother's immigration status.

Marta receives a blackmail note with a partial photocopy of Harlan's toxicology report. She and Ransom drive to the medical examiner's office, but it has burned down. Marta receives an email proposing a rendezvous with the blackmailer. Blanc and the police spot them, and after a brief car chase, Ransom is arrested; Blanc explains that Harlan's mother saw Ransom climbing down from Harlan's room the night he died. At the rendezvous, Marta finds Fran, drugged. She performs CPR and calls an ambulance. She confesses to Blanc, though Ransom has already informed on her, and she decides to tell the family that she caused Harlan's death, which would invalidate the will under the slayer rule.

Back at the mansion, Marta finds a copy of the full toxicology report in Fran's cannabis stash. She gives it to Blanc without reading it herself, and Blanc sees it shows little morphine in Harlan's system and interrupts Marta before she can confess. Blanc reveals his deductions to the detectives, Marta, and Ransom:
After Ransom learned Harlan was leaving everything to Marta, he swapped the contents of Harlan's medication vials and stole the antidote so that Marta would kill Harlan and thus become ineligible to claim the inheritance.
But Marta actually gave Harlan the correct medication, subconsciously recognizing it by its viscosity, and she only thought she had poisoned him after reading the label.
When the death was reported as a suicide, Ransom anonymously hired Blanc to expose Marta.
Fran saw Ransom tampering with the crime scene and sent him the blackmail note. After he realized Marta was not responsible for Harlan's death, but Marta still thought she was, he forwarded the letter to Marta and burned down the medical examiner's office to destroy evidence of her innocence.
He overdosed Fran with morphine, intending for Marta to get caught with Fran's corpse. After a call from the hospital, Marta tells Ransom that Fran has survived and will implicate him, causing Ransom to scoff that he will only get arrested for Fran's attempted murder. Just then, Marta vomits on him; Fran is actually dead.
Realizing he has confessed to murder, with Wagner recording the conversation, Ransom attacks Marta with a knife from Harlan's collection, which turns out to be a retractable stage knife. The police promptly arrest him.

Linda finds a note from Harlan about her husband's adultery. Blanc tells Marta he suspected early on that she played a part in Harlan's death, noting a tiny blood spot on her shoe. As Ransom is taken into custody, Marta watches from the balcony of what is now her mansion with the rest of the family gathered below.

Cast

Production

Development

After making the 2005 film '' Brick'', the writer and director Rian Johnson came up with the basic concept for ''Knives Out''. In June 2010, he expressed interest in making an Agatha Christie-inspired murder mystery film. He told ''The Independent'' that he wanted to make the film after finishing ''Looper'' (2012). However, Johnson's next film project became '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi'' (2017). Johnson spent seven months writing the script after finishing his press tour for ''Star Wars: The Last Jedi''.

Johnson cited several classic mystery thrillers and mystery comedies as influences, including ''The Last of Sheila'', ''Murder on the Orient Express'', ''Something's Afoot'', ''Murder by Death'', ''Death on the Nile'', '' The Private Eyes'', ''The Mirror Crack'd'', '' Evil Under the Sun'', '' Deathtrap'', ''Clue'', and ''Gosford Park''. The 1972 version of ''Sleuth,'' a favorite "whodunit adjacent" of Johnson's'','' was also an inspiration, particularly for the setting and set design, including the automaton, Jolly Jack the Sailor. The title was taken from the 2001 Radiohead song "Knives Out"; Johnson, a Radiohead fan, said: "Obviously, the movie has nothing to do with the song ... That turn of phrase has always stuck in my head. And it just seemed like a great title for a murder mystery." The name Harlan Thrombey is taken from a 1981 ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' whodunit, ''Who Killed Harlowe Thrombey?''

''Knives Out'' was announced in September 2018, with Daniel Craig starring. It was sold to distributors during the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. In October 2018, Chris Evans, Lakeith Stanfield, Michael Shannon, Ana de Armas, Don Johnson, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Toni Collette joined the cast. In November 2018, Christopher Plummer, Jaeden Martell, Katherine Langford, Riki Lindhome, and Edi Patterson joined the cast. Frequent Johnson collaborator Noah Segan was announced as being in the film in December. In March 2019, Frank Oz, who previously worked with Johnson in ''The Last Jedi'', revealed that he would be appearing in a small role. M. Emmet Walsh was cast in the film to replace Ricky Jay, who had died during production.

Filming

Principal photography began on October 30, 2018, in Boston, Massachusetts and wrapped on December 20, 2018. Other filming locations in Massachusetts included Berlin, Easton, Marlborough, Natick, Wellesley, Maynard, Waltham, and Medfield. The exteriors of the house were filmed at a mansion located in Natick, about west of Boston. The Ames Mansion in Borderland State Park, Massachusetts, was used for many interior shots.

''Knives Out'' was Plummer's final film performance before his 2021 death. However, ''Knives Out'' was released September 2019, before the October 2019 debut of '' The Last Full Measure'' (2019) which also featured Plummer.

Music

Nathan Johnson composed the film score. He previously worked with director Rian Johnson, who is his cousin, on ''Brick'', ''The Brothers Bloom'', and ''Looper''. The soundtrack was released on November 27, 2019, coinciding with the film's release, by Cut Narrative Records.

Release

''Knives Out'' had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2019. It was theatrically released on November 27, 2019, by Lionsgate. Director Rian Johnson released an "in-theater" audio commentary for those watching the film a second time.

''Knives Out'' was released on Digital HD on February 7, 2020, and on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K on February 25. It was made available on the streaming service Amazon Prime on June 12, 2020.

Reception

Box office

''Knives Out'' grossed $165.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $146 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $311.4 million. ''Deadline Hollywood'' calculated the net profit of the film to be $82million.

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside ''Queen & Slim'', and was initially projected to gross $22–25 million from 3,391 theaters over its five-day opening weekend. The film held advance screenings on November 22 and 23, making $2 million from 936 theaters. It then made $8.5 million (including the $2 million from the screenings and $1.7 million from Tuesday night previews) and $6.8 million on Thanksgiving Day, increasing estimates to $44 million. It went on to gross $27.2 million in its opening weekend (a five-day total of $41.7 million), finishing second behind ''Frozen II''. In its second and third weekends the film made $14.2 million and $9.3 million, remaining in second then finishing third. The film made $6.5 million in its fourth weekend and then $9.7 million in its fifth (and a total of $16.6 million over the five-day Christmas period).

Critical response

On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics' consensus reads: "''Knives Out'' sharpens old murder-mystery tropes with a keenly assembled suspense outing that makes brilliant use of writer-director Rian Johnson's stellar ensemble." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 82 out of 100, based on reviews from 52 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an average 4.5 out of 5 stars, with 67% saying they would definitely recommend it.

David Rooney, writing for ''The Hollywood Reporter'', described the film as an "ingeniously plotted, tremendously entertaining and deviously irreverent crowd-pleaser" and "a treat from start to finish," praising the film's script, the throwbacks to the murder mysteries of the 1970s, and the actors' performances. Dana Stevens of '' Slate'' wrote "''Knives Out'' knows exactly what kind of movie it is: a sendup of twisty murder mysteries with all-star ensemble casts that also loves and respects that silly tradition." For ''The A.V. Club'', A. A. Dowd called the film "madly entertaining" and "an ingenious sleight-of-hand crowdpleaser". David Ehrlich of ''IndieWire'' gave the film an A−, writing "Johnson has devised a murder-mystery that's eager to defy your expectations, but unwilling to betray your trust. The film may be more smart than stylish, and it may opt for a reasonable outcome over an overwhelmingly shocking one, but ''Knives Out'' doesn't let the element of surprise ruin a good story." David Sims of ''The Atlantic'' wrote that Johnson "turned the whodunit on its head". Dani di Placido of ''Forbes'' wrote that Johnson "finds a way to revitalise the concept" and "makes murder mystery great again". Director Edgar Wright stated that ''Knives Out'' was his favorite film of the year and that it is "fiendishly plotted".

Andrew Chow, writing for ''Time'', described the film as "one of the most unexpectedly subversive films of the year." Co-producer Ram Bergman said that the sociopolitical elements of the film were essential from its infancy. The film's lead actress, de Armas, saw it as a major studio release that stars a Latina and condemns entrenched aspects of American society. Carlos Aguilar, writing for ''Remezcla'', took note of the Thrombey family's "racist worldview", which contrasted how the Latina lead "emerges as a heroine for all immigrants and their children whose most inalienable superpower comes from empathy, civility, resilience and the utmost value for human life." Graham Hillard of ''National Review'', however, found the characters undeveloped and one-dimensional, as Harlan's family is "irredeemably wicked" and de Armas' character is "pure goodness" and primarily "serves as a vessel into which progressive viewers can pour their racial pieties".

It was chosen by the American Film Institute, the National Board of Review, and ''Time'' magazine as one of the top ten films of 2019 in each respective list.

Accolades

Sequels

Before the release of ''Knives Out'', Johnson said he would like to create sequels with Benoit Blanc investigating further mysteries, and already had an idea for a new film. In January 2020, Johnson confirmed that he was writing a sequel, intended to focus on Blanc investigating a new mystery. Craig was expected to reprise his role, and acknowledged interest in the project. On February 6, 2020, Lionsgate announced that a sequel had been approved.

On March 31, 2021, it was reported that Netflix bought the rights to two ''Knives Out'' sequels for $469million. Filming began on June 28, 2021, in Greece. Despite Lionsgate's prior announcement that they had approved a sequel, reports indicate that Johnson and Bergman retained the sequel rights, which they shopped to other distributors without the involvement of Lionsgate or MRC. The film was released on Netflix on December 23, 2022.

References

External links

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, title = Awards for ''Knives Out''
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{{Austin Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
{{National Board of Review Award for Best Cast
{{San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Ensemble
{{Satellite Award for Best Cast – Motion Picture
{{Saturn Award for Best Thriller Film
{{Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble

Knives Out
2010s American films
2010s comedy mystery films
2010s crime comedy films
2010s English-language films
2019 comedy films
2019 crime films
2019 films
American black comedy films
American comedy films
American comedy mystery films
American comedy thriller films
American crime comedy films
American crime films
American crime thriller films
American detective films
American mystery films
American mystery thriller films
American nonlinear narrative films
Films about dysfunctional families
Films about illegal immigration to the United States
Films about inheritances
Films about murder
Films about the upper class
Films about writers
Films directed by Rian Johnson
Films produced by Ram Bergman
Films scored by Nathan Johnson (musician)
Films set in 2018
Films set in country houses
Films set in Massachusetts
Films shot in Boston
Films with screenplays by Rian Johnson
Lionsgate films
Murder mystery films