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Knives Out: Twisting the Murder Mystery's Tropes

Updated: Feb 21, 2023


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Everyone likes a murder mystery story. It's one of the oldest genre in cinema but it has been the same for a long period. The latest Murder on the Orient Express was received with mixed review lamenting the formulaic structure of the plot, which reduced the movie to an imitation of its ancestors. Seven, The Silence of the Lamb and Psycho are considered the frontrunners but they don't try to have fun with the genre's tropes. It's risky to do it but as someone said sometime ago "You could write a story about clever people only if you're too". I think that Knives Out is that kind of movie: the witty rebel.


PLOT

"A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family" or "It's like Clue with a lot of unexpected surprises".


SCRIPT

It's all about details and subtleties. This movie is made to challenge your brain from start to end and, when you think that you've been able to untangle the mystery, it gets you with a brilliantly built plot twist. Since the first scene you get the necessary informations to understand it. Usually there's the usual structure, murder-discovering of the murdered-suspects interrogation-discovering of a determinant clue-murderer's confession, but here it's flipped like a coin. The movie allows yoiu to understand the personalities, which are well differentiate, realistic and quirky, and the motives of every single character. The clues aren't just in the words but also in the visuals. In fact the house, which resemble a Clue's board, is the perfect set for the story and its architecture is functional to the story. The concept of Checkov's gun, when you introduce a concept, through exposition or in a scene,which is pivotal for the story, is used almost perfectly.

The issues I have with it are regarding the villain's name, which is dumb and could've been harmful for the final twist, the fact that the victim prefers to die even though he coul've saved himself and all this trouble, the running joke about the nurse's weird disease and the fact that only one character, the nurse, get an arch. These are minor problems, especially the last one, because this movie is also intended to be a social commentary about wealth and kindness. The second seems a little bit forced because i think that greed isn't in every son of wealthy parents. Overall it's well made with a few flaws but it's appreciable and intriguing.


Script: 8/10


ACTING

With the amount which is on display here you won't be disappointed. Maybe a minor character isn't able to mantain the standard set by the rest but overall is outstanding. The whole family is played delightfully, as the two detectives and the nurse. Every actor gives a defined behaviour to his character and you're in for something which goes against typecasting. Daniel Craig, who we're used to see as James Bond, here plays a smooth and charismatic detective from Kentucky. And he handles well the southern accent, giving it an elegant and composed shade. This is one the movie's strenght.


Acting: 8/10


PHOTOGRAPHY

This movie is built around the mansion and its scenery. The house is the embodiment of the murdered and his family. Outside is imposing, inside is full of different colourful object. The opening credits indulge on them to set the movie's tone. Other than that not a lot is done with colours.


Photography: 6/10


EDITING

Another good section. Slow motion is used gently as the cuts. The camera is dynamic, which makes the story more enjoyable. We experience left-right movement as a comedic tool and slow or fast zoom ins and out to infuse the frame with more drama. There's a pretty good sequence of shots in the end which works well from a visual perspective. The opening credits, where are the establishing shots, is beautiful because it cuts following the music pace and rythm, showing shots from different standpoints.

I like the way Craig's character is introduced, with a bottom-up shot, to establish is grand presence and differentiate him from the family's members who are shot with a hal body shot. The same logic is applied to the nurse who is introduced with a close-up to evidence the fact that she has a different mindset from his employer's family.


Editing: 9/10


SPECIAL EFFECTS

They're imperceptible and they aren't enough. It's all practical because there's no need for flamboyant special effects. This isn't a Star Wars movie.


Special Effects: 6/10


SOUNDTRACK

Only in the opening credits it does something interesting. The rest is just classical music and tones which remember the old mystery murder movies. It's there and it's harmless.


Soundtrack: 5/10

.

COSTUMES

They fits the characters but there's nothing interesting about them. They don't play a relevant role, except for a nurse's shoe which is necessary to solve the case. Which is not enough ti say that this section is sufficient.


Costumes: 5/10


CONCLUSION

Script: 8/10

Acting: 8/10

Photography: 6/10

Editing: 9/10

Special Effects: 6/10

Soundtrack: 5/10

Costumes: 5/10

AVERAGE: 5,85


An enjoyable movie which is strongly plot driven and is a severance and a tribute to the genre's past. The strong cast carries it till the end in an astonishing way and the editing is the movie's main strength. A weak soundtrack and a meager use of photography are the notable flaws. I advise you to rewatch it while you'll be waiting for the next installment beause more surprises and plot twists will be on their way.



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𝙆𝙣𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙊𝙪𝙩 (2019)

나이브스 아웃


미스터리 / 미국 / 130분

Rian Johnson 라이언 존슨 감독


🌙_아무 정보도, 기대도 없이 봤지만 시간가는 줄 모르고 봤던 작품.

주제는 뻔하지만 뻔하지 않은 이야기.

어느 순간 이 영화만의 특별한 분위기에 흠뻑 취해있었다.


22년 가을즈음 2편 제작이 확정되어 기대중.



💬 고전인듯 현대인듯

_ 영화의 첫 시작, 배경이 현대인지 과거시대인지 헷갈릴정도로 고전의 느낌이 많이 섞여있었다. 아이폰을 사용하는 걸 보니 우리가 살고있는 21세기.

말그대로 미스터리, 추리 영화에 걸맞는 배경과 음악이 기억에 남는다.


💬 거짓말을 못 한다?

_ 누가 범인이여도 전혀 이상하지 않은 상황. 그 중 아주 특별한 설정 하나가 추가된다. 바로 '마르타'가 거짓말을 못한다 라는 설정.

용의자 중 가족이 아닌 유일한 인물이고 가뜩이나 가장 의심받기 쉬운 인물이 핸디캡을 갖고 시작하는 느낌이라 전개가 매우 궁금해질 수 밖에 없었다.


💬 가족

_ 그들은 모두가 서로에게 비밀이 가득했고, 영화의 처음부터 끝까지 '가족'이라는 이름 안에서 각자 자기만을 생각하는 모습을 보인다.

그들의 모습은 정말 추하고, 안타깝고, 심지어 잔인해 보이기까지 했다.


💬 특별한 추리영화

_ 추리물이라는 장르에 흔히들 갖는 기대보다는 잔잔한 느낌에 가까운 이 영화.

다른 영화에서의 화려하고 멋진 사건 해결 보다도, 긴장감 가득한 장면이 이어지곤 한다.

작품 특유의 독보적인 분위기를 130분 내내 풍기고있다.

반복해서 여러번 보면 더 많은 것이 보일 것 같은 영화 중 하나.


🎭


"Just the thought of lying makes me puke."

거짓말을 하면 토할 것 같아요.


"My mind's made up."

마음은 이미 정했네.


"Playing life like a game without consequence,

until you can't tell the difference between a stage prop and a real knife."

뒤는 생각도 안 하고 인생을 게임처럼 살면

무엇이 소품 칼인지 진짜인지 모르게 되지.


"You know, this is an interesting and efficient method of murder.

I need to write this down."

이것도 재미있고 효과적인 살인 수법이군. 적어놔야지.


"Close the book with a flourish."

내 인생의 책을 멋지게 마무리해야지.


"I think this could be the best thing to happen to all of you!"

댁들 모두에게 인생 최고의 사건 같은데!


👀더 많은 & 상세한 리뷰는 프로필 상단👀



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Director: Rian Johnson

Screenplay: Rian Johnson

Cast: Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, Christopher Plummer

Soundtrack: Nathan Johnson

Cinematography: Steve Yedlin

Running Time: 130 minutes

Budget: $40 million










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