Disciplines
Screenwriting
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Rian Johnson’s Knives Out (2019) has been praised by many for its dialogue and its slick, refreshing take on the mystery/thriller genre; but I argue, like many great stories of our time, that it’s the characters in Knives Out that really propel this film near the top of all mystery/thriller triumphs. Rather than reinventing the character archetypes that one would normally see in a film of this caliber, Johnson takes those characters and serves them up in a way that makes them unique to his story: his way. By providing an in-depth analysis of each character in the many twists and turns of a peculiar murder case such as the one featured in Knives Out, I will demonstrate why I believe it’s not only the script’s classic tone, polished dialogue, intricate story, or lavish set pieces that help propel this film into one of the greatest mystery/thriller films of the past decade, but also its eccentric characters. These characters, with their not-too-serious attitudes and ever-present tendencies to be unhinged are characters who could only exist in a film like Knives Out.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
RCHSS - English
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Anna Weinstein
A Character Analysis of Knives Out
Rian Johnson’s Knives Out (2019) has been praised by many for its dialogue and its slick, refreshing take on the mystery/thriller genre; but I argue, like many great stories of our time, that it’s the characters in Knives Out that really propel this film near the top of all mystery/thriller triumphs. Rather than reinventing the character archetypes that one would normally see in a film of this caliber, Johnson takes those characters and serves them up in a way that makes them unique to his story: his way. By providing an in-depth analysis of each character in the many twists and turns of a peculiar murder case such as the one featured in Knives Out, I will demonstrate why I believe it’s not only the script’s classic tone, polished dialogue, intricate story, or lavish set pieces that help propel this film into one of the greatest mystery/thriller films of the past decade, but also its eccentric characters. These characters, with their not-too-serious attitudes and ever-present tendencies to be unhinged are characters who could only exist in a film like Knives Out.
