Like with Hunger Games (we saw a preview -- for November 2026), this Knives Out franchise snuck up on me. This was episode two of three said the blurb I checked before going. Seeing the word "standalone" was reassuring. No priors required.
Hey, what a well-made movie! A whodunnit murder mystery that pokes fun at itself and the genre, while milking for all it's worth (which is a lot when the handling is expert).
I didn't kick myself for not solving it beforehand, just based on the clues, Sherlock Holmes style. I'm not a superman. Yet the plot steered refreshingly clear of the supernatural elements i.e. any cheap ex machina plot devices (so-called miracles).
Mostly, the film developed my hunger for a bully pulpit; to have permission to unleash like that, the way those Catholics do, it least in the movies (a lot of them B-grade black 'n whites on late night television).
