In 2019, Rian Johnson was uniquely placed to revive the whodunit. A longtime fan of the genre, he’d already honed his ability to spin a circuitous yarn with a noir mystery pastiche (Brick) and a zany crime caper (The Brothers Bloom). In the wake of The Last Jedi, he also had the clout to greenlight an original project with a star-studded cast; a rarity in Marvel-era Hollywood, where most studios prioritize very little but franchise blockbusters or Oscar bait.
With Knives Out, Johnson put a contemporary spin on a formula that never deserved to go out of style: an elaborate puzzle of a plot, a charmingly eccentric investigator, and an ensemble cast visibly having the time of their lives.
