Review of "Knives Out" Essay

Well-known crime writer Harlan Thrombey is celebrating his 85th birthday. In order to celebrate his birthday, Thrombey invites his family to his home, which includes his children, grandchildren, and his children’ spouses. The guest list also includes his nurse (whom he is fond of) and his housekeeper.

However, the morning following his birthday party, the successful writer is found dead in his bedroom. His throat has been slit.

The police officers in charge believe that the writer committed suicide. However, private detective Benoit Blanc believes differently. He suspects that there may be more to the story than meets the eye.

Benoit Blanc was hired anonymously to investigate the death of the crime writer, which is why he wants to investigate further and not simply call it a suicide.

Benoit Blanc and the two police officers do have their fair share of suspects, which include every member of the family. Each and every one with good motives. The investigators must also ask themselves if it was a suicide or in fact murder. Who murdered the writer, if it was murder? Who hired Benoit Blanc to investigate? There are several questions that need to be answered. A real puzzle that needs to be put together.

The movie is definitely well cast. Christopher Plummer plays the role of crime writer Harlan Thrombey, Daniel Craig plays Benoit Blanc, Jaime Lee Curtis plays Linda Drysdale, Chris Evans plays Hugh Ransom Drysdale, just to name a few. There are quite a few noticeable names, and I’m sure many might recognize at least one or two. The cast is amazing and is well suited for this movie.

The movie was written and directed by Rian Johnson, produced by Johnson and Ram Bergman, and came out in theatres in 2019.

Filming took place in several different locations in Massachusetts. For instance, the scenes outside the mansion were filmed at a mansion approximately 17 miles outside of Boston, within Massachusetts. The scenes inside the home were filmed at the Ames Mansion in Borderland State Park, in Massachusetts.

For those who enjoy a good old fashion murder mystery, I would definitely suggest that you watch this movie. It has all the elements of a good murder mystery movie. One that I feel we don’t see often anymore. It has a mixture of what we’d we see in a novel by Agatha Christie or Arthur Conan Doyle with some modern day elements.

As I mentioned before, I thought the cast was well chosen for this movie. As was the director in my opinion. The location of the home of Harlan Thrombey was a perfect setting for this type of movie. It helps add to the mystery and the feel of the story.

I will admit that the accent used by Craig Daniel to portray Benoit Blanc did bother me a little at first, but I got used to the character, and do find that Craig Daniel’s portrayal of the character works well with the story, plot and movie. It may just need some time to adjust.

I was pleased to find out that there may be another Knives Out movie coming out in the next few years. Craig Daniels is set to reprise the role of Benoit Blanc in the sequel.

I’ll be interested in seeing the sequel, if and when it does come out. I’m unsure how it’ll go or how good it may be, but I’m still curious to know.

Hopefully the sequel does happen. Whether it does or not, I have enjoyed this movie and will definitely be watching it again. As a huge murder mystery fan, this is definitely right up my alley.