Rian Johnson needs to keep making his own original movies where he isn’t held down by someone else’s rules and expectations. He got swarmed by a legion of sourpusses for The Last Jedi and with Knives Out he gets to have a blast in his own world and gives us another terrific original story to watch.

Harlan Thrombey is a wildly successful mystery novel writer with a large family that has come to rely on him a lot over the years. At his untimely and rather gruesome death, it brings them all together to his home to go over the last will and testament where they are all met by an unexpected guest. Harlan’s death is seen as suicide and this brings the local police in to ask questions and they are accompanied by detective Benoit Blanc, an expert in sniffing out…murder.

I suspect foul play. I have eliminated no suspects.

Writer/Director Rian Johnson-one of my favorite working today-has crafted a really fun and engaging murder mystery with a stacked cast (check that IMDB page!) with more than a few surprises. The big narrative shock is that you find out who killed Harlan in the first act of the movie. The ponderous nature of the narrative that unfolds is that Benoit doesn’t know who hired him. He received an envelope of money with a note that Harlan was murdered and his expertise is needed to find out who did it. But with what’s publicly known about Harlan’s murder how does the mystery tipster know Harlan was murdered? Someone in the house has a lot of secrets. As Benoit digs in, the tapestry of murder, setups and goblin levels of greedy family members is woven before you.

Knives Out is an original, well told story that has tons of foreshadowing, excitement, intrigue, and suspense from start to finish. The entire cast looks like they had a blast, Daniel Craig as Benoit in particular. There’s a lot to notice on re-viewings so this movie is worth watching more than once. I only had one hang up on my viewing. Near the end of the film, there is narration to explain the actions of the Evil Doer that seemed to give the Evil Doer more information than they could have known at the time. I had to watch that part a few times to understand it and I think it’s just poorly worded (Mr. Johnson, I offer my editing and content reviewing services for any of your future projects).

Not enough murder mysteries like this are made for TV and film anymore and that’s a shame. When done well, they are incredibly engaging and memorable. Rian managed to also mix in some really funny lines. Witty and clever, these quick moments highlight character personalities in an efficient manner. There are around a dozen main characters so there is a lot to manage. Just about everyone gets their chance to shine. There isn’t a single wasted moment and even as you learn more about what happened, there is more for you to try and figure out on your own. While so much is seemingly given to you at the start, a lot is held back and at the end, it all comes together really well.

I think this stands up right next to the legendary Clue movie that came out way back in 1985. In fact, if you are a Clue fan, drop whatever you are doing and get your Knives Out right now.