There is one thing the latest trailer for Knives Out wants you to know: Rian Johnson’s whodunit is one fun film. It is, as one critic is quoted as saying, “The most fun you’ll have at the movies this year.” That may be a tall order but the sight gags, one-liners and delicious comedic bits we get throughout this minute-long ad sure do a great job of making that feel very true. In the vein of Agatha Christie’s murder mystery novels (the kind Christopher Plummer’s character, Harlan Thrombey, has made a fortune writing), this is a story that opens with a dead body and a whole slew of suspects. In this case, that encompasses the entire Thrombey family, which is played by an enviable ensemble that includes Chris Evans, Toni Collette, Michael Shannon, and Jamie Lee Curtis. Rounding out the cast are Daniel Craig as inspector Benoit Blanc and Cuban actress Ana de Armas as Marta Cabrera, Harlan’s devoted nurse who will find herself at the center of Blanc’s investigation.
Short on plot (for this truly is the kind of twisty film you want to go in blind for), the trailer opts to sell you on the film’s tone. With its eerie and archly overdecorated Victorian house as well as a zippy cast relishing their broadly drawn characters and fussily distinctive costumes, it’s clear Johnson’s follow-up to The Last Jedi is equal parts comedy and thriller. Thus, while we get plenty of shots of knives and needles and car chases and limp bodies and Molotov cocktails, we also get to hear Craig’s ridiculous Southern accent (“When people get desperate, the knives come out,” he quips) and see Evans’ annoying rich boy shtick in its full glory (just watch him mouth the word “wow”). Clearly aiming to create this generation’s Clue and revamping the murder mystery genre for the 21st century in the process, Knives Out promises to be a rollicking good time. Check out the full trailer below.
Knives Out hits theaters November 27, 2019.
