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Home , Ana de Armas, Knives Out, Toni Collette

by Campbell Dalglish, [email protected]

“Knives Out,” directed by ( 2017) is a political satire inside a wealthy American family- The Thrombeys living in a museum-like country mansion that one might imagine in an Agatha Christy “who dunnit?” Except in this case it’s “whose donut?” as you will learn through the southern drawl of Detective Benoit Blanc played by of James Bond fame. Right from the top we see who done it, and a cover up orchestrated by the dead grandfather (), known for playing bad guys because “The Devil is more interesting than God.” There is only one witness to this murder - a catatonic over the hill grandmother (K. Callan) whose three words are key to breaking the mystery. You don’t want to miss those words. Then there is the nerdy youngest member of the family Jacob Thornbey ( from “IT”) who overhears the last words of Grandpa while “masterbating” in the bathroom.

There are the family members, parents played by and , sister Joni played by , brother , and an outsider bad boy Ransom with a the biggest motivation to kill (he was left out of the will). For the detective, played with a clumsy like Colombo manner who stumbles upon the truths and the clues as though by accident as he searches for the hole in the hole in the hole of this donut. And that person happens to be the most innocent of the bunch, Marta Cabrera played in depth with a lot of heart by who is at the very center of this mystery. She is innocence personified, even as she is guilty of carrying out the crime and the cover up. Some one is using her innocence as detective Beloit surmises. And the rest is a game to figure out who that could be.

Through all of this mystery one thing rings painfully clear: the innocent victim has taken charge in order to survive a group of whining bullies whose biggest fear is that a migrant worker has stooped them out of an inheritance they all believe they were entitled to. That is everyone except Grandpa, whose will is ripped open at the end like an Oscar nomination delivering a harsh slap in the face to all of them.

As you might try to solve this metaphor, you get to taste the sweetness of it all in the hard driving innocence of the victim who realizes it is only too dangerous for her to die. If that sounds like a riddle, that’s how this film unwinds, or should I say crumbles like a donut leaving you pieces to pick up before they get eaten by the detective.

When a magician distracts you by letting you catch him making a mistake, so too does Beloit in this film. Just as you think you have caught the real criminal up to the point of even getting an admission of guilt, something in the fabric of the story, an overlooked step in a broken ladder becomes a sign post for us to return to, a spot of blood on Marta’s sneaker reveals the making of a corrupt act that’s been pulled over our eyes from the very start.