“It's a strange case from the start. A case with a hole in the center. A donut.”

Knives Out is Rian Johnson’s directorial follow-up to his very controversial Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and is a mystery film centered on the death of a well-known and well-established author by the name of Harlan Thrombey, played by Christopher Plummer. Not only is it a mystery whether or not he killed himself or if someone else in the family did it, but the main detective, Benoit Blanc, played by one of my favorite actors, Daniel Craig, was also brought onto the case by someone unknown. It is a much different mystery film because it’s not necessarily about what or who killed Harlan Thrombey, but rather, it is more focused on how it happened.

That is definitely what I most admire about the original Knives Out. It takes a lot of the clichés of most mystery films and throws all of them out of the window. It really took its audiences and the internet by surprise when it was first released, and continues to be one of the most unique mystery movies, probably ever made. Its mystery is also a lot more complex, while not being too overly-complicated, in that it has several mysteries inside of the main one.

The main lead character, Ana de Armas’ Marta Cabrera, the nurse who took care of the victim of the story, is a very compelling character. She’s amazingly played by Ana de Armas, with how unsettled she plays the character throughout the entire movie. What I really like about her, though, is how likable and admirable she is. She has somewhat of an innocent and compliant side to her, but she also has the courage to stand up for herself from time to time.

Then, of course, there is Benoit Blanc. This is easily one of Daniel Craig’s most interesting and memorable performances, serving as the “master detective,” so to speak, and he plays the character in a funny but also serious manner, to which I think he balanced them both perfectly. I really like his mannerisms and the way he portrays himself, where you can tell Blanc is quite literally always thinking and paying attention to every tiny detail. He is incredibly intelligent, as the main detective in a mystery movie should probably always be, but not in a way that is reaching too far or not believable.

This will be the last time that I mention The Last Jedi, but for even the people who aren’t the biggest fans of that movie and where it went storywise (including me), I think everyone can agree that Johnson’s direction was brilliant to say the very least. The cinematography in that movie was some of the best of the entire Star Wars franchise, and I have to say his brilliant visuals continue here. Knives Out has a very distinct look to it, where it kind of combines both vintage and modern visual elements, not making it obviously set in any particular time period. The color grading is also fantastic and adds to it, and the main house that this movie largely takes place in was really eye-catching and nice to look at.

The main mixed aspect of the movie, I would have to say, would definitely be the main family. They are very frustrating and downright unlikable from the start, and at times, I could see them being a pretty big negative for a lot of people. However, I don’t think it was overdone, and I also think that it was very obviously done intentionally by Rian Johnson. I also think it makes both Marta and Blanc’s contrast to them make them even more likable and compelling.

For my outright negatives, the first one would have to be something that I unfortunately just find in a lot of mystery-centered movies. Knives Out, no matter how groundbreaking or great it was on the first watch, is not a very rewatchable film. I find myself less into the story every time I watch it, as there is a lot less entertainment value (though it’s still definitely entertaining) once you’ve seen everything, and there also isn’t much material to pick up on with revisits. Maybe this is an unfair criticism, who knows, because, as I said, this is kind of just a common thing with mystery movies, but maybe they could have added something to it to make it more rewatchable, though I have no idea what that would be. This could also very much be just me.

The last negative I’ll say is that the ending is definitely pushing it a little bit. While the movie overall handles its complexity quite well, I think that the final climactic reveals and such definitely stretched that a bit. There is a ton of exposition revealing everything, and the main big reveal is announced early on in the exposition, so the rest of it is kind of just uninteresting and dragged out too much. However, the actual final ending outside of the reveal stuff is really satisfying.

There is no denying that Knives Out is a very well-made movie, but I just don’t find that it holds up nearly as well on rewatch. I still very much like it, however.