I went into Knives Out with no strong feelings or knowledge about its advertised genre - murder mystery / 'whodunit' - but a large amount of faith in Rian Johnson on the strength of everything he's done before (especially, still, The Brothers Bloom), and I think it was equal parts that personal starting point and the way the film itself knowingly both draws attention to and plays out any number of iconic components of its genre which made it impossible for me to disentangle the extent to which Knives Out is traditionalist, as opposed to deconstructionist, in what it does.
In any case, it turns out not to matter because the result is a very entertaining, clue-filled story full of enjoyably performed characters and more-or-less unexpected turns, with a depth that comes from the integrity of its plotting and construction as much as from its thematic treatment of class and race.
(w/ Hayley)
In any case, it turns out not to matter because the result is a very entertaining, clue-filled story full of enjoyably performed characters and more-or-less unexpected turns, with a depth that comes from the integrity of its plotting and construction as much as from its thematic treatment of class and race.
(w/ Hayley)
