Movies that are best streamed in the fall are about as ubiquitous as any category of film. Streaming services often reorganize their catalogs to suggest these titles to users, making it that much easier to get into the fall spirit. A large chunk of these movies have release years with one at the beginning, but there’s a more recent offering that deserves a spot on annual autumnal movie rewatch lists: Knives Out.
This spooky offering from writer/director Rian Johnson, a bona fide murder mystery extraordinaire, features superstars Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, the late Christopher Plummer, among others, and it stars Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, a man who’s as adept at solving mysteries as Johnson is at creating them. The film received almost equal praise from audiences and critics – no easy feat – and acted as the first installment in an anthology series of films starring Craig as Blanc.
The Story Elements to Love About Knives Out
Knives Out begins with a family reunited to celebrate its wealthy patriarch’s birthday, only to find him dead the next morning. Every single family member and household staff present for the birthday party is a suspect, and Blanc is enlisted to aid in weeding the suspects out.
There isn’t much to not like about this film. Though the plot sounds tired at the outset – a rich, old man dies; which of his greedy progeny killed him? – it’s far more nuanced than the typical murder mystery. Several of the family members have a clear motive, and while they first operate as separate units according to their immediate connections, dynamics quickly shift. Knives Out explores themes of class, family, wealth, immigration, and race, all the while keeping audiences hooked on its enticing mystery.
The Visual Elements to Love About Knives Out
Ana de Armas in ‘Knives Out’
Knives Out takes place at a gothic mansion in Massachusetts in the fall. The opening scene is utterly fantastic, setting the stage with the most spectacularly dark autumnal landscape imaginable. Leaves on the ground; bare, singular branches extending from centuries-old trees; descended fog; and a dark sky signal to eager viewers that whether or not they solve the mystery before Blanc, they’re going to have an aesthetically pleasing time trying.
It’s hard to know when fall will truly be upon us – we are at the whim of the mercurial weather, after all – so don’t wait until the perfect fall day to watch Knives Out. Instead, use it to create fall. Stream this film to will the season into existence. It might not work, but you won’t regret trying.
Knives Out is streaming now on Direct TV, TNT, TBS, and truTV.