Rian Johnson trades in lightsabers for postmodern whodunnit Knives Out

Star Wars: The Last Jedi grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide, topping the box office in 2017. So writer-director Rian Johnson pretty much had carte blanche for his next project. And he opted for a palate cleanser of sorts: a postmodern take on the classic whodunnit, called Knives Out. Think Clue meets Murder on the Orient Express, both of which the director has cited as influences.

It’s not as much of a radical departure for Johnson as it might seem. His debut feature film, Brick (2005), was a crime drama with film noir overtones, largely inspired by the works of Dashiell Hammett and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. (The actor would go on to star in Johnson’s third film, 2012’s Looper.) For Brick, Johnson had his actors read Hammett and watch classic screwball comedies like His Girl Friday to bring a lighter touch to the traditional noir genre. Now, he seems to have brought something of that same sensibility—mixing dark subject matter with a lighter touch—to Knives Out.

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  It always begins with an isolated manor. [credit:
  YouTube/Lionsgate ]

Knives Out features a premise worthy of the grande dame of murder mysteries herself, Agatha Christie. Various extended family members gather at the family estate to celebrate their patriarch Harlem Thrombey’s (Christopher Plummer) 85th birthday. Said patriarch dies unexpectedly later that night. Could it be foul play? Det. Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) certainly thinks so, and he detains the entire family in the mansion until he completes his investigation.