Though it has been a stellar year in film, Rian Johnson may have delivered the year’s most entertaining film with Knives Out. The movie pays homage to the classic murder mystery stories while completely flipping the genre on its head in exciting and unexpected ways.
The movie follows a dysfunctional family whose matriarch dies the night of a family get-together and renowned detective Benoit Blanc arrives to investigate. While the movie successfully keeps you on the edge of your seat with suspense, it is also a surprisingly funny movie with some truly laugh-out-loud moments. Here are the funniest moments from Knives Out, ranked.
Fanboy Cop
Adding a bit of theatricality to the entire situation, the patriarch of the family, Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), is a famed mystery novelist. This helps to explain the vast fortune that is at stake following his death, while also providing some fun moments with Trooper Wagner (Noah Segan).
Wagner is one of the local police involved in the investigation who also happens to be a massive fan of Harlan’s work. His fanboy excitement pops up throughout the film as he giddily feels like he’s in one of these murder mystery stories.
Greatnana Wanetta
The Thrombey family is filled with eccentric and unusual people, but Greatnana Wanetta might be the most unusual and hilarious of all. She is Harlan’s mother and therefore is impossibly old. She doesn’t interact much with the family and seems unaware of where she is most of the time.
Just the appearance of this incredibly old woman gets some laughs. Her hearing is so bad that everyone needs to shout everything at her while her eyesight is no better. She keeps mistaking everyone for Ransom (Chris Evans) which leads to a clever reveal inside the throwaway joke.
The Interrogations
After the discovery of Harlan’s body kicks off the movie, it doesn’t waste any time jumping into the mystery. The first scenes show the Thrombey family arriving at the family mansion where they are questioned by police and Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig).
The scenes of the interrogation are hilarious as we see the individual family members talking behind each other’s backs and insulting each other. We also see the inconsistencies in their stories through flashbacks to the family party as well as the various secrets they are hiding.
Marta’s Condition
One of the biggest and best surprises in Knives Out is Ana de Armas as Marta. In a movie filled with famous actors playing members of the Thrombey family, it is Harlan’s kind and caring nurse Marta who is the actual star of the story.
Marta is an easy-to-like character who suffers from an unusual condition that suits this story well. Whenever she lies, Marta cannot help but vomit. What seems like a silly gimmick is used to great effect and allows de Armas to do some great barf acting throughout the movie.
Talking Politics
While the movie is centered on the murder investigation, it is also a great examination of family and how it’s not always easy to get along. Most of us have been a part of those family holidays where people who love each other can’t help but bicker and argue about their own beliefs and differences.
Knives Out depicts these kinds of uncomfortable family interactions with hilarious accuracy. As we flashback to the party, the family engages in an ill-advised discussion of immigration. The cringe-worthy discussion is filled with the kind of ignorant, tone-deaf remarks while people play it off as an innocent and well-meaning discussion between family.
Country Of Origin
Underneath all the fun mystery aspects of the film, Johnson includes some clever commentary, especially concerning Marta. The family continuously comments on how Marta is really one of the family, but as the story continues, that starts to feel more and more like an empty remark.
Through Marta’s eyes, we see how the family actually is as they cannot be bothered to learn what country she actually comes from. Throughout the movie, the various characters make mention of her home country which changes each time. It’s a subtle way of showing the family’s ignorance.
The Will
While the Trombey’s try their best to come off as a loving family who are devastated by the death of Harlan, their true colors quickly come to light as Harlan’s will is read. Each member of the family has their own desires in mind and feel they deserve a big chunk of the estate.
Things fall apart in glorious fashion as it is revealed Harlan has left everything to Marta, the only one who really cared about him. The way the family immediately turns animalistic and vicious is outrageously funny.
Chris Evans’ Entrance
In the massive and star-studded cast, Chris Evans stands out with an extremely entertaining performance. He plays Ransom, the black sheep of the family who is missing for the first act of the film. However, when he does show up, he immediately steals the show.
Evans wonderfully plays against type as the pompous, rude and spoiled man with some great sweaters. He gets some of the biggest laughs in his first scene as Ransom storms into the house and begins insulting his entire family, hilariously telling all of them individually to “eat sh*t”.
The Final Barf
As soon as Marta’s affliction is established, you just know it’s going to be used to great effect at some pivotal moment. Even so, the final barf comes as a glorious surprise and used at the perfect moment.
As Ransom’s entire plan is laid to bare, the final piece falls into place. Marta gets a call from the hospital and says Lucy is alive and can testify that Ransom tried to kill her. Finally caught, Ransom arrogantly confesses only for Marta to vomit a chunky mess into his face. She lied, Lucy is dead and Ransom just confessed to the crime.
Fake Knife
Johnson’s screenplay for the film is a brilliantly constructed puzzle that all begins to fit together in the end. Subtle hints and throwaway lines come back to payoff in clever ways. This leads right up to the final moments as Ransom sees he’s been outsmarted and decides to make Marta pay.
He grabs a knife from Harlan’s collection and attacks Marta. The slow-motion sequence is intense and shocking but the payoff goes back to Harlan’s criticism about Ransom not being able to spot a real knife from a prop. He plunges the knife in Marta only to realize it’s a fake.
