Everybody loves a whodunnit. Someone gets murdered, the suspects are cornered by a genius detective, and the net tightens until justice is served. And while the classics from Agatha Christie and the like continue to provide ample basis for adaptations, filmmaker Rian Johnson has cooked up his own original murder mystery, Knives Out – his first film since 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi. And being one of the most acclaimed and distinctive filmmakers working today (despite what certain members of the Star Wars hardcore might think of him), he’s assembled a stellar cast including a post-MCU Chris Evans, a mid-Bond Daniel Craig, and the likes of Toni Colette, Michael Shannon, Jamie Lee Curtis, LaKeith Stanfield… the list goes on. Watch them in action in the first trailer.
Well, doesn’t that look like a blast? While this first trailer boasts some impressive imagery and juicy performances, Knives Out also looks like a good old straight-up murder mystery. The corpse is that of Christopher Plummer’s family patriarch Harlan Thrombey, a crime author fittingly enough, who winds up croaking at his 85th birthday party. Enter Daniel Craig’s eccentric detective Benoit Blanc who hopes to get to the bottom of things.
Of everyone, Chris Evans seems to be having the most fun here – shaking up his straight-laced Captain America image as a foul-mouthed suspect who tells the other party guests individually to “eat shit”. Craig, meanwhile, is playing it broad with a southern American accent (no 007-isms here), and the script looks to be as sharp as the giant circle of knives that repeatedly enters the frame. It's the sort of glossy, smart-looking ensemble movie that comes along all too rarely – hopefully it'll be one to cherish.
We’ll find out who the murderer is when Knives Out hits UK cinemas on 29 November.