Knives Out or Knives In?

Finally, the movie that a lot of people have been waiting for is out. It was released on December 1 in China. It hit the theaters strong and it was satisfying for all viewers.

There is no doubt about this movie’s satisfaction to the viewers from the high-rates collected and displayed from various sites. With a 97% from rotten tomatoes, an 8.1/10 from IMDb, and 91% likes from google users, Knives Out really hit the theater with great satisfaction from the viewers. Its fantastic plot and an “all-star” line up is the reason behhind this great result.

The “all-star” line up includes not only the recent top trending actor Chris Evans who played Captain America in the Marvel studio, but also consists of Katherine Langford, who received The Golden globe for Best Performance with her role as Hannah Baker in the TV series “Thirteen Reasons Why,” and famous British actor Daniel Craig, who won the Best Actor award under the action movies criterion, in the Critics Choice Award for his role James Bond in the James Bond movie series.

With murder incidents, the different perspectives as narration, and the plot twist in the thriller film, the plot is unique from other films with the same genre. With murder incidents and all the different perspectives presented along the way, but it is also very intriguing regarding the plot twist at the very end of the movie. The New York Post exaggerates that with the stabbings, poisoning, and arson, this movie is an “A-list-turned-slay list party.”

The movie takes place in two different timezones, which is not often seen in movies; thus, viewers are intrigued by allowing them to see both from the past tense and from the present tense of this crime incident. The story begins with the murder of a famous author, and time shifts to when the detective tries to solve the case. Parts of the actual incident are shown throughout the movie, with important clues on the murderer becoming blurrier. Director Rian Johnson is then able to hit the viewers with the surprising plot twist at last and resolves every confusion the viewers had along the movie. He did it by letting the detective go through the whole story again in depth with details that the viewers did not catch as well as revealing the totally unexpected analogy of the crime.  

According to the New York Post, another very interesting factor of this movie is how the viewers can get to watch “an ensemble of super-serious actors getting to misbehave.” Craig Daniel “looks happy to be acting [for the first time in years],” as stated by the New York Post.

As I watched the movie, I definitely got into the “trap” Johnson had setup. At first, due to the somewhat obvious plot, I assumed and guessed what happened during the night of the murder. However, when the truth was revealed at the end of the movie, I was in shock.

Aside from the amazing storyline, the interactions between the characters depict the reality of modern society—lying to cover up “dirty” acts, for example, is still extremely common today. The exposure of modern society allows this film to be extremely realistic and relatable for many.