Knives Out

🔪100% Journey to My Top 25: I’ve watched this way more times than I’ve logged it lol. “Physical evidence can tell a clear story with a forked tongue.” You’d think that with this being one of my all-time favorites, that I would have given it a proper review before now. I have a feeling this will get rambly, so prepare yourself for a crazy word count or quit reading now. There were a couple of other quotes from this film that I could have used to highlight what Knives Out is, but I think the above quote captures the essence of the film early on. The dialogue is just jam packed full of details and subtle set-ups. For example, Blanc poses a question to Marta early on in the film that he ultimately answers in the final scene, and it’s just a really satisfying payoff. Things like that really exemplify the quality of the writing for me, and there are numerous examples throughout. Every line of dialogue serves a purpose. Speaking of the writing, this is actually one of the funniest movies I’ve ever watched. None of the humor feels forced, and all of it lands. Though I can’t credit all of the hilarity to the writing because this is one of the most stacked casts of all time. Everyone fills their role effortlessly no matter how little screen time. I think Michael Shannon’s Walt is a standout in the comedy department. He has a couple of lines from the will reading scene that I quote on a regular basis. Chris Evans isn’t even in the first act of the film, but he makes one hell of an entrance and immediately steals the screen. Daniel Craig was born to play Benoit Blanc, giving one of the most charismatic performances I’ve seen. I could go on and talk about each cast members individually, but that would be an essay— they’re all great. The set design is gorgeous, perfectly setting the atmosphere for our classic murder-mystery with a twist. The score isn’t anything fancy, but it doesn’t need to be. So much about what makes this film great is that it handles so many genre tropes, but manages to make it all feel fresh and exciting. The way the narrative unfolds through different perspectives isn’t necessarily new, but the reveal in the first act is something we don’t really see in these types of films and it’s a refreshing addition to the genre. I could keep finding things to say, but Knives Out is a meticulously crafted, hilarious, and inventive take on the whodunnit that has cemented itself in my top 4.