Knives Out
Summary
When acclaimed crime novelist Harlan Thrombey is found dead after his 85th birthday, his eccentric family becomes the prime suspects of detective Benoit Blanc’s investigation. What begins as a classic whodunit quickly flips its structure inside out: the audience learns the killer’s identity early on, only to be pulled through a new mystery — why did it happen, and who’s really to blame?
Knives Out plays with the expectations of the detective genre, using humor, moral grayness, and social commentary to create a story that feels both familiar and freshly unpredictable.
Key Characters
- Protagonist: Marta Cabrera — Harlan’s kind-hearted nurse, trapped between guilt and integrity after believing she is responsible for Harlan’s death
- Antagonist: The Thrombey family — a web of entitlement and greed, including Ransom Drysdale, the true killer who manipulates Marta
- Detective: Benoit Blanc — the eccentric investigator whose presence raises the tension as the audiences are torn between wanting to see him solve the case, but also for Marta to get away with the crime
Structure
Act 1 - Setup
Hook
Harlan Thrombey is found dead, apparently by suicide. But Detective Benoit Blanc is hired anonymously to investigate, arriving to question the dysfunctional Thrombey family.
Inciting Incident
Through a series of interviews, it is revealed that every family member had a motive for murder, introducing a whole slew of suspects to muddle the investigation.
First Turning Point
In a flashback, it is revealed that Marta accidentally mixed up Harlan’s medication, seemingly causing his death. True to his crime writer sensibilities, Harlan insists she stage his death as suicide to protect herself. In doing so, he unwittingly pulls her into his final game.
Act 2 - Confrontation
Rising Action
As Blanc investigates, Marta tries to conceal her role while assisting him. Clues pile up: muddy footprints, a broken trellis, a missing toxicology report — creating the tension of a thriller as Marta scrambles to cover her tracks.
Second Turning Point
Blanc uncovers the truth: Ransom is the real killer. He switched the medication labels to frame Marta. When he realizes Marta didn’t fall for his trick, he tries to manipulate her to save himself and secure his inheritance.
Act 3 - Resolution
Climax
Marta outsmarts Ransom, tricking him into confessing in front of witnesses, delivering the perfect checkmate.
Resolution
Ransom is arrested. The film ends with Marta standing on Harlan’s balcony with his coffee mug (”My house, my rules, my coffee”), looking down at the remaining Thrombeys. The house — and the moral high ground — are now hers.
Works Mentioned
- Rian Johnson (dir.), Knives Out (2019).
- All images and clips from Knives Out (2019). © Lionsgate.
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