# Knives Out
**Knives Out** is a 2019 American murder mystery film written and directed by [Rian Johnson](https://www.edgepedia.org/rian-johnson), in which private detective Benoit Blanc investigates the death of wealthy crime novelist Harlan Thrombey at his estate just after his 85th birthday, with the whole Thrombey family among the suspects[1](https://app.powster.com/lionsgateus/knives-out/us/synopsis/). Johnson pays tribute to [Agatha Christie](https://www.edgepedia.org/agatha-christie) while giving the classic whodunit a contemporary setting[1](https://app.powster.com/lionsgateus/knives-out/us/synopsis/). The film stars [Daniel Craig](https://www.edgepedia.org/daniel-craig), Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, and Christopher Plummer as Harlan Thrombey[1](https://app.powster.com/lionsgateus/knives-out/us/synopsis/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | Theatrical release November 27, 2019 (Thanksgiving weekend), distributed by Lionsgate; premiered on Netflix in 2020[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt8946378/) • [3](https://www.axios.com/2022/10/06/netflix-knives-out-sequel-theaters) |
| Box office | $312,897,920 worldwide against a $40,000,000 budget; $26,769,548 domestic opening[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt8946378/) |
| Reception | 97% Tomatometer from 472 reviews and 92% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/knives_out) |
| Awards | 2020 Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay (Rian Johnson); three Golden Globe nominations; Saturn Award wins including Best Thriller Film; an AFI Awards 2019 honoree[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8946378/awards/) • [6](https://www.afi.com/news/afi-awards-2019-honorees-announced/?campaign=751954) |
| Franchise | Netflix paid a reported roughly $400 million for two sequels, *Glass Onion* (2022) and *Wake Up Dead Man* (2025)[3](https://www.axios.com/2022/10/06/netflix-knives-out-sequel-theaters) • [7](https://findthismovie.com/where-to-stream-every-rian-johnson-movie/) |
| Runtime and rating | 2 hours 10 minutes, rated PG-13; genres listed as comedy, crime, drama, mystery, and thriller[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt8946378/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and premise
When Harlan Thrombey, a renowned crime novelist and publishing magnate, is found dead with his throat cut on the night of his 85th birthday, the death is initially treated as a suicide. Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is mysteriously enlisted to investigate, and he sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies told by Harlan's dysfunctional family and devoted staff to uncover the truth[1](https://app.powster.com/lionsgateus/knives-out/us/synopsis/) • [8](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/interviews/rian-johnson-knives-out-agatha-christie-had-modern-sensibility). The suspects include Linda Drysdale ([Jamie Lee Curtis](https://www.edgepedia.org/jamie-lee-curtis)) and her husband Richard ([Don Johnson](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-johnson)), Ransom Drysdale (Chris Evans), Walt Thrombey ([Michael Shannon](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-shannon)), Joni Thrombey (Toni Collette), and Marta (Ana de Armas), Harlan's nurse, whose character TIME described as the film's true protagonist[9](https://sparkandfire.com/knivesout/) • [10](https://time.com/5746169/golden-globe-nominations-2020-snubs-surprises/).
### Franchise
In 2021 Netflix acquired the rights to two sequels from Johnson and Bergman for a reported roughly $400 million[3](https://www.axios.com/2022/10/06/netflix-knives-out-sequel-theaters). *Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery* (2022) became the first Netflix film to debut across all three major U.S. theatrical chains, AMC, Cinemark, and Regal, in a one-week limited run before its streaming debut[3](https://www.axios.com/2022/10/06/netflix-knives-out-sequel-theaters). The third film, *Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery*, arrived on Netflix on December 12, 2025[7](https://findthismovie.com/where-to-stream-every-rian-johnson-movie/). Johnson has said he cannot write the films in advance because they are set in the present moment and try to capture what is on everyone's mind at that moment[19](https://www.cinemablend.com/interviews/rian-johnson-gives-update-knives-out-4-why-he-cant-write-films-in-advance).
## Development and writing
Johnson wrote the screenplay on and off over a 10-year period, working in [Moleskine](https://www.edgepedia.org/moleskine) notebooks filled with text and annotated sketches[11](https://www.lwlies.com/interviews/rian-johnson-glass-onion). He has described his influences as the "Holy Trinity" of Hitchcock, Agatha Christie, and Columbo, and cited the Christie film adaptations he grew up watching, including *Death on the Nile* and *Evil Under the Sun* with [Peter Ustinov](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-ustinov) as Poirot[12](https://floodmagazine.com/71896/knives-out-collaborators-rian-and-nathan-johnson-on-powering-a-modern-whodunit/). Coming off the success of *Star Wars: The Last Jedi*, Johnson said the film was thrown together within a single year, with extensive creative autonomy given by production companies MRC and T-Street and distributor Lionsgate[13](https://time.com/5739679/knives-out-rian-johnson-making-of/). Johnson and producer Ram Bergman owned the film's rights, and their deal with Lionsgate was for one movie[3](https://www.axios.com/2022/10/06/netflix-knives-out-sequel-theaters) • [14](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/rian-johnson-reaches-for-another-knife).
**Design.** Production designer David Crank found a big circular industrial barbecue grate a few days before shooting began, and the knives were mounted around it for the film's central visual motif[15](https://www.gq.com/story/rian-johnson-knives-out-interview-2019).
## Themes and style
The film has been described as a contemporary spin on the whodunit genre with pointed things to say about the American bootstrap narrative, immigration politics, and inherited wealth[8](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/interviews/rian-johnson-knives-out-agatha-christie-had-modern-sensibility) • [15](https://www.gq.com/story/rian-johnson-knives-out-interview-2019) • [16](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/knives-out-is-like-a-game-of-clue-come-to-life-only-even-more-fun/2019/11/25/61a856b8-0a3c-11ea-8397-a955cd542d00_story.html). Critics noted that while its style evokes an earlier era, the script responds to the present day; the New Yorker review observed that the film plays with classic murder-mystery tropes while reflecting contemporary social concerns[17](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/knives-out/critic-reviews/) • [18](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/02/pastiche-and-politics-in-knives-out).
## Reception and awards
The film holds a 97% Tomatometer from 472 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with a critics consensus praising how it "sharpens old murder-mystery tropes with a keenly assembled suspense outing"[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/knives_out). It earned a 2020 Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for Johnson, three Golden Globe nominations (Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy; Best Actor for Craig; Best Actress for de Armas), and Saturn Award wins for Best Thriller Film and Best Editing[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8946378/awards/). The [American Film Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-film-institute) named it one of the AFI Awards 2019 honorees[6](https://www.afi.com/news/afi-awards-2019-honorees-announced/?campaign=751954).
## References
1. [Knives Out: Synopsis, Lionsgate US](https://app.powster.com/lionsgateus/knives-out/us/synopsis/)
2. [Knives Out (2019), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt8946378/)
3. [Netflix to put "Knives Out" sequel in theaters before streaming, Axios (October 6, 2022)](https://www.axios.com/2022/10/06/netflix-knives-out-sequel-theaters)
4. [Knives Out, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/knives_out)
5. [Knives Out (2019) Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8946378/awards/)
6. [AFI Awards 2019 Honorees Announced, American Film Institute](https://www.afi.com/news/afi-awards-2019-honorees-announced/?campaign=751954)
7. [Where to Stream Every Rian Johnson Movie, FindThisMovie](https://findthismovie.com/where-to-stream-every-rian-johnson-movie/)
8. [Rian Johnson on Knives Out: "Agatha Christie had a modern sensibility", Sight and Sound, BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/interviews/rian-johnson-knives-out-agatha-christie-had-modern-sensibility)
9. [Spark and Fire: Director Rian Johnson on Knives Out](https://sparkandfire.com/knivesout/)
10. [The Biggest Snubs and Surprises of the 2020 Golden Globe Nominations, TIME](https://time.com/5746169/golden-globe-nominations-2020-snubs-surprises/)
11. [Rian Johnson: 'Sondheim's my guy', Little White Lies](https://www.lwlies.com/interviews/rian-johnson-glass-onion)
12. ["Knives Out" Collaborators Rian and Nathan Johnson on Powering a Modern Whodunit, FLOOD](https://floodmagazine.com/71896/knives-out-collaborators-rian-and-nathan-johnson-on-powering-a-modern-whodunit/)
13. [How Knives Out Became One of the Year's Most Subversive Films, TIME](https://time.com/5739679/knives-out-rian-johnson-making-of/)
14. [Rian Johnson Reaches for Another Knife, The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/rian-johnson-reaches-for-another-knife)
15. [Interview: Rian Johnson Revitalized the Whodunit with Knives Out, GQ](https://www.gq.com/story/rian-johnson-knives-out-interview-2019)
16. ['Knives Out' review, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/knives-out-is-like-a-game-of-clue-come-to-life-only-even-more-fun/2019/11/25/61a856b8-0a3c-11ea-8397-a955cd542d00_story.html)
17. [Knives Out critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/knives-out/critic-reviews/)
18. ["Knives Out" and "Kind Hearts and Coronets," Reviewed, The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/02/pastiche-and-politics-in-knives-out)
19. [Rian Johnson Gives An Update On Knives Out 4, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/interviews/rian-johnson-gives-update-knives-out-4-why-he-cant-write-films-in-advance)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2015–2019 films › Thriller and mystery films › Titles F to N*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license