In a year filled with superhero epics, creepy clowns and threatening Irishmen, 2019’s final surprise is the return of the whodunnit . More importantly, Ryan Johnson’s modern update of the classic genre is just a good time at the cinema. Knives Out manages to find new life in a stale genre and even works in some cheeky social commentary. To be fair, it would be hard to make a bad movie with a cast that includes the likes of Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson and Chris Evans.

When famous writer Harlan Thrombey dies in mysterious circumstances, his family are cast under suspicion as detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) decides to investigate. All of the actors in this film look like they are having great fun and the feeling is mutual. In particular, Ana de Armas is the heart (and arguably the main character) of the film as Harlan’s nurse Marta. Her experiences as a South American nurse in a rich white American family make the film stand apart from the average murder mystery. Still, all of this is worthless if your detective movie does not have a great detective.

Knives Out is Daniel Craig savouring his time away from Bond and just enjoying himself. You get the feeling that if this was played by someone like Johnny Depp, the urge would be to don silly facial hair and turn the theatrics up to eleven. What Craig does instead is focus on creating a memorable detective whose main attribute is his brilliant Foghorn Leghorn accent. To say that Craig is the standout would be to do the rest of the cast a disservice but he comes damn close.

As good as Knives Out is, it isn’t perfect with the main issue being a slightly baggy middle section. Inevitably with a cast this big, it occasionally loses focus but thankfully it all comes together in a perfectly pitched ending with plenty of twists. In the final twenty minutes, Johnson maintains the light-hearted tone but also sneaks in some interesting criticisms of modern America. Like Us and Get Out before it, Knives Out proves that a film can be both entertaining and topical. In short, if you love a good mystery and hate Donald Trump, this is the perfect movie for you.

Disclaimer Notice: Any thoughts and opinions expressed here are solely my own. Any images (copyrighted or otherwise) have been used according to Creative Commons and if needed, have been referenced to the best of my knowledge.

© 2020 Kelly’s Film Guide