Knives Out

Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas

Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson,

Toni Collette, Chris Evans,

Michael Shannon, LaKeith Stanfield,

Christoper Plummer

"Everyone has A motive.
No one Has a Clue"

This all-cast murder mystery does reveal early on, the manner the murder was committed. Yet as the plot unfolds, the original cause of death is torn to pieces as the truth slowly comes out.

So the 'murdered' person is famous crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), the patriarch of the family who just celebrated his 85th birthday. Suicide is the cause of his untimely death. 

Enter Lieutenant Elliot (LaKeith Stanfield) the person in charge of investigating the 'suicide'. He is accompanied by renowned detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) who was hired by an anonymous benefactor. They proceed to interview several members of Harlan's immediate family. 

Harlan's eldest daughter Linda Drysdale (Jamie Lee Curtis), a successful business woman and her husband Richard (Don Johnson), next is Linda's brother Walt Thrombey (Michael Shannon) who runs the publishing company which markets his father's books. 

Joni Thrombey (Toni Collette) is Harlan's daughter in law, the widow of his late son Greg. She has a teenage daughter, Meg who is friends with Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), Harlan's dutiful nurse and caregiver, an immigrant from some Central or South American country. They all answer the queries as honestly as possible even though in the process, they each offer some sort of motive towards wanting Harlan dead, in some way or the other.

Through Blanc's intensive prodding, he discovers that Marta made a mistake while administering Harlan's medicines, he then overdoses on an injection which gives him only 10 minutes to live. Marta is unable to find the antidote so Harlan decides to kill himself so Marta's mother, an illegal immigrant won't be deported when Marta is jailed for the accidental injection. Much to Marta's chagrin and despite her pleas to call an ambulance, Harlan slits his throat.

To make the long story short, several factors such as Blanc's style of investigation, and the appearance of Ransom (Chris Evans), the son of Linda and Richard Drysdale, we find out the real cause of death, the evil mastermind behind the 'murder' and who hired Benoit Blanc. These snippets are all revealed through flashback sequences and leads to a bittersweet conclusion with Marta inheriting everything the patriarch owes as stipulated in his will.

This Agatha Christie style crime thriller with a cast of good actors was refreshing to watch. Daniel Craig shines as Benoit Blanc as we are reminded of Hercules Poirot, the fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. Not a caricature, mind you. But an equally eccentric detective. The ensemble cast carries the entire narrative on their quite able shoulders. The plot tends to lose some momentum during some scenes but overall it is a clever whodunit which deserves our full attention.