Knives Out Review!

Alright! So today I'm looking at Rian Johnson' subversive masterpiece, Knives Out. Yeah, I'm doing a lot of movie reviews. But, if it helps, I should've reviewed Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Tenet, Soul, Black Widow, A Quiet Place Part II, and Mulan by now, so I gotta compensate.

Apparently, subverting expectations is now bad thing, because some sad 50 year old Star Wars fanboys complained about the Last Jedi not being closer to the movie they wrote in their head.

So, starting out, let's just get this out of the way - subverting expectations is not a bad thing. It was just poorly used in the Last Jedi, which was made worse by how critics absolutely loved the film, for some reason. I have no clue how.

But anyway, the Last Jedi is a bad example of it being praised as a good example. In the Last Jedi, all the subversions, such as not meeting the codebreaker, Luke dying, Snoke dying, and Rey being a nobody, are surprising, yes - but they are not properly set up to either raise the stakes of the movie or develop the characters better. And most are retconned by Rise of Skywalker, so... whatever. Filmento did a really good video on it.

But Knives Out? Dude, Knives Out completely subverts the expectations of the "Whodunnit" film. Marketed as the newest "Whodunnit" film since 2017's middling Murder on the Orient Express, Knives Out completely drops the ball.

As a movie, the movie is well made - the production design is on point, the soundtrack is very cool, the ensemble cast is excellent, the direction is very well done, and Ana de Armas is a delightful protagonist who I would love to see in more movies. And it's funny. Surprisingly so.

And, it was an original movie that made $309 million, something nearly unheard of in modern cinema.

It also had slight political undertones - the rich white people are the villains in the immigrant's story. And, having a female minority role as the lead role without making the entire movie an overly feminist tone, like so many blockbuster fall victim to nowadays, is excellent.


Overall, I give the film a 10/10. And yes, I know that that's the fourth film I've given a 10/10 to in as many weeks, but anyway. I'm reviewing good films. "Knives Out serves as an entertaining, funny, and tense thriller - all while flipping the genre upside down."

And, I can't really review a whodunnit without talking about spoilers, so....



spoilers.






The twist in Knives Out has got to be one of the best I've ever seen. As in, it's a twist without the twist. Going into the movie theater, I thought I was watching a classic "Whodunnit" thriller, only for the movie to turn that upside down - Subverting my expectations.

In the film, instead of trying to figure out who the murderer is, it straight up tells you; Harlan Thrombey committed suicide because the protagonist nurse Marta switched up his morphine and medication.

This makes the movie that much better; Instead of having a predictable twist, we get a new thriller film. Suddenly, the film becomes not "Who did it," but "How will she get away with it?" It makes you root for the killer by making her a very nice person.


But then it had another twist! She did not actually kill Harlan! She gave him the right medications, and his death was pointless. This was a very nice thematic triumph - Unselfishness (Marta) has defeated selfishness (Hugh).

It's all very nice and compelling.


And honestly, this has got to be not only the best "Whodunnit" I've ever seen, but also one of the best films ever made.