I was in London with my family a while ago, we were bored and in need of entertainment after a tragic evening spent watching Cats at the cinema. We had already missed our chance to see Little Women and ended up stumbling upon what I now consider an absolute masterpiece. Knives Out, directed by Rian Johnson and starring Chris Evans (who’s seen in the cosiest jumpers of all time), Ana de Armas and Daniel Craig, is a detective story which falls into the subcategory of whodunit, meaning the main focus of the plot is the puzzle regarding who committed the crime and the one who conducts the investigation is usually an eccentric semi-amateur detective. Just to clear things out all of Agatha Christie's work is of this kind.
The film kicks off with a tragedy: Harlan Thrombey, renowned crime novelist and family man, is found dead in his study with his throat slit. So investigations begin and the police seem to be ruling out the possibility of this being a murder pretty early off, but private investigator hired anonymously Benoît Blanc reckons otherwise. All members of the family appear to have a motive but these all seem too weak to have actually led to murder. The plot thickens as the case evolves, and the unbelievable turns out to be the truth.
Omitting Chris Evans' character's jumpers that drive me nuts every time I see them, this wonderfully made film would keep anyone on their toes with its twists and turns. Anybody who enjoys Agatha Christie's work will love the way the characters interconnect and how it seems they could all have something to do with the murder at first but how, at the same time, nobody could. Overall, it is greatly structured and the cinematography is absolutely splendid. The intricacy of the plot and the shocking final revelations make this film an absolute must-see, no wonder the Time magazine named it one of the ten best films of the year.