Knives Out (2019)

A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family.

Director:

Rian Johnson

Writer:

Rian Johnson

Stars:

Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 39 wins & 83 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Daniel Craig	...	Benoit Blanc
Chris Evans	...	Ransom Drysdale
Ana de Armas	...	Marta Cabrera
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Linda Drysdale
Michael Shannon	...	Walt Thrombey
Don Johnson	...	Richard Drysdale
Toni Collette	...	Joni Thrombey
LaKeith Stanfield	...	Lieutenant Elliott
Christopher Plummer	...	Harlan Thrombey
Katherine Langford	...	Meg Thrombey
Jaeden Martell	...	Jacob Thrombey
Riki Lindhome	...	Donna Thrombey
Edi Patterson	...	Fran
Frank Oz	...	Alan Stevens
K Callan	...	Greatnana Wanetta

Storyline

When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan's dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan's untimely death.

---

Plot Keywords:

vomiting | police | nurse | whodunit | detective | 

---

Taglines:

Hell, any of them could have done it.

---

Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements including brief violence, some strong language, sexual references, and drug material

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

27 November 2019 (USA)

Also Known As:

Morning Bell

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$26,769,548, 1 December 2019

Gross USA:

$147,524,652

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$279,053,098

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate, Media Rights Capital (MRC), T-Street

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby D-Cinema 48kHz 5.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In January 2019, Rian Johnson tweeted a series of photos of the posters that he had hanging in the studio as he edited Knives Out to serve as inspiration for cutting the movie. These were posters for: Agatha Christie's Evil Under the Sun (1982) (1982; starring Peter Ustinov, Diana Rigg, and Maggie Smith); Murder by Death (1976) (1976; starring Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Elsa Lanchester, David Niven, and Peter Sellers); Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile (1978) (1978; starring Peter Ustinov, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, and Angela Lansbury); The Last of Sheila (1973) (1973; starring Dyan Cannon, James Mason, and Raquel Welch); Deathtrap (1982) (1982; starring Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, and Dyan Cannon); Clue (1985) (1985; starring Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, and Martin Mull); Gosford Park (2001) (2001, starring Maggie Smith, Ryan Phillippe, Michael Gambon, and Kristin Scott Thomas); Agatha Christie's The Mirror Crack'd (1980) (1980; starring Elizabeth Taylor, Angela Lansbury, Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson, and Kim Novak); the London production of the stage musical Something's Afoot (1977; starring Sally Smith); Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express (1974) (1974; starring Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, and Ingrid Bergman); The Private Eyes (1980) (1980; starring Tim Conway and Don Knotts); and Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019) (2019; starring Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith, and Kathryn Newton). All of these are murder mysteries and/or detective stories, though some are satires of the genre. The screenplay for The Last of Sheila (1973) was co-written (with Anthony Perkins) by Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim, who also wrote "Losing My Mind," the song that Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) sings some of during Knives Out. The Last of Sheila was Sondheim's only movie script.

---

Goofs

When Marta goes over Mr. Thrombey's drug regimen, she states that he injured his shoulder about a week ago. Therefore, she is giving him 100 mg of Toradol followed by 3 mg of Morphine for sleep. Toradol is only given in doses of 15 mg/ml or 30 mg/ml. In addition, one isn't supposed to give more than 60 mg/ml in a single dose. In addition, it should only be given for five days or less.

---

Quotes

Linda Drysdale: We are the Thrombeys, goddamnit! This is still our house!

---

Connections

References Death on the Nile (1978)

---

Soundtracks

More Than This
Written by Bryan Ferry
Performed by Roxy Music

User Reviews

Pimp My Agatha Christie!

With the exception of my wife and daughter, and possibly my mother, Agatha Christie is the woman whom I love most on this planet. She truly was the most gifted and brilliant fiction writer who ever lived, and it rejoices me to see that her work still inspires other writers and filmmakers nowadays; more than forty years after she passed away. There are still many adaptations of her original work, but with "Knives Out", writer/director Rian Johnson attempts something entirely different. It's abundantly clear that Johnson was inspired by all of Christie's typical trademarks and hobby-horses, and he pays tribute to her most legendary characters and favorite settings, but the plot of "Knives Out" is entirely new and scripted directly for the screen. A good old-fashioned murder mystery/whodunit set in the enormous mansion of a wealthy family, full of eccentric people each of whom have dirty little secrets, convoluted plot twists, continuous red herrings that practically make it impossible to guess along, and a fabulous all-knowing but slightly odd sleuth slowly unravelling the clues.

Daniel Craig is downright terrific as Benoit Blanc, a private detective with a bizarre accent and weird one-liners, hired by someone anonymous to dig deeper into the strange and sudden death of patriarch Harlan Thrombey. It looks like suicide, but literally every greedy member of Harlan's bloodline had a motive for killing and - also in delightful Agatha Christie tradition - the plot even thickens after the reading of the will. It would be a shame to reveal too much about the plot, but rest assured that is refreshing and inventive, compelling as well as humorous, complex but simultaneously light-headed and 200% entertaining. The cast is phenomenal. Craig clearly enjoyed depicting a heroic protagonist that is the complete opposite of his James Bond character, and the Thrombey family exclusively exists of great talents, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Toni Colette, Christopher Plummer and Don Johnson. "Knives Out" is perhaps slightly too long, but never tedious, and very well-directed by Rian Johnson (who honestly doesn't deserve all this hatred from disappointed "Star Wars" geeks)