London Film Festival, Knives Out review: Rian Johnson's murder mystery is a masterclass in misdirection

Charlotte O'Sullivan9 October 2019

A hilarious homage to Agatha Christie mostly set in a plush mansion and stuffed with A-list stars. Director-writer Rian Johnson uses those familiar faces to misdirect us. In the process he pulls off something magical.

East Coast millionaire Harlan (Christopher Plummer) wants to stop funding his dependents, including his daughter (Jamie Lee Curtis), daughter-in-law (Toni Collette) and grandson (Chris Evans).

When Harlan is found dead, having apparently killed himself, a Southern, ever-so-slightly corpulent private detective (Daniel Craig) appears. His verdict? Harlan’s gentle Hispanic nurse, Marta (Ana de Armas), is the key to the mystery.

Craig, bunking off from Bond, is hypnotic and gloriously unglamorous as a cod philosopher who may or may not be a genius. Collette is just as much fun as an embittered and needy liberal (in one highlight, the character tries and fails to involve her sister-in-law in Stevie Nicks-style gyrations). As for blandly handsome Evans, he’s a blast.

Whodunnit: Daniel Craig leads the investigation in the bold new mystery 
Claire Folger

De Armas, along with several lesser-known actors, makes an equally big impression. There’s a pecking order in Harlan’s mansion, one the film spryly subverts. There’s a granny, for instance (played by K Callan), who can’t be trusted around nibbles and has a priceless death stare. You may guess whodunnit, but you won’t be able to predict what granny and the other quote unquote nobodies will do next.

A wink is tipped to Christie’s A Pocket Full of Rye (one of the villains bears a remarkable resemblance to Lancelot Fortescue). Just as importantly, Johnson signals his love for topical Netflix soap Jane the Virgin. This is a yarn about parasites, that just happens to touch on illegal immigration and Trump.

Johnson, on temporary sabbatical from the Star Wars universe after The Last Jedi, has used his time well. Murder he wrote — and what a writer he is.

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