Knives Out

There’s nothing like a classic murder mystery film in terms of assembling frankly awe-inspiring casts. Perhaps it’s the attached prestige to the genre and the literary legacy or maybe they’re just great fun to film, being largely devoid of CGI and set in one location.

Knives Out is beholden to the classics of the form but bucks the trend in not being based on a pre-existing text. It also, refreshingly, is set thoroughly in the modern day despite its traditional hallmarks. We're lured in right away: celebrated mystery writer Harlan Thrombey dies in suspicious circumstances on the night of his 85th birthday at a family party. He lives in a great big mysterious house ("like a Clue board" as the police observe early on) and, lo and behold, every member of his extended family has motivation for wanting him dead.

Cue Daniel Craig's sleuth Benoit Blanc to investigate who might as well come with an elaborate moustache and French accent. Instead, Craig plays Southern; chain-smoking huge cigars and chewing on scenery for fun. He feels as loose and fun as he did in Logan Lucky and even owns the lines where the script goes all Sherlock-esque cliché: "Something's afoot", "I suspect foul play" etc.

It feels like Rian Johnson has been let loose as well. Freed from the backlash surrounding The Last Jedi (enough time has passed for us to reflect that it's great now surely?) he imbues this film with visual panache and his intelligent way of framing the plot using flashbacks to the night of the party whilst Blanc interviews his suspects keeps the whole enterprise zipping along.

He also throws in some brilliant lines which will bring the laugh-out-louds but never slips into parody. It's deliriously entertaining. The usual twists come thick and fast and it's worth your full attention. Throwaway lines become important at different junctures so it's advised not to munch on popcorn through the first half of this one.

Much praise as well to that aforementioned cast which is truly gasp-inducing. Sadly, not every character gets their due: Jamie Lee Curtis, Katherine Langford and Lakeith Stanfield are underused but it's a genius move to anchor the film with future Bond sidekick Ana de Armas, whose Marta is the perfect choice to guide us through these awful circumstances and awful people. It’s also great to unite Christopher Plummer as the family patriarch and Daniel Craig as a detective after the underseen The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo remake never got a sequel.

Craig meets his match in the scenery-chewing stakes when Chris Evans appears. Revelling in his multi-layered role he absolutely oozes star quality and, if not for de Armas’ star making performance, would take home the MVP gong.

Going in with little knowledge in the way of plot is always best with a murder mystery so no more delving but, suffice to say, Johnson has crafted a modern yet still classic future pinup of the genre in a film that goes beyond tribute.

Far from elementary.

4 stars ****