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In a year when comic book movies, remakes, and sequels ruled the box office, Rian Johnson delivered an original film that is also one of the year’s most entertaining movies. Knives Out is styled after classic whodunit murder mystery about a wealthy family whose elder patriarch dies at a family get-together.
With an all-star cast, a clever script and a lot of great humor, the movie proved to be a real crowd-pleaser. Though it feels like a very unique film that plays brilliantly with genre expectations, there are some other great movies that capture the same appeal feel of the mystery. Here are some other movies to watch if you like Knives Out.
Updated by Colin McCormick on March 14, 2020: Knives Out is now available on DVD and VOD so fans can revisit this endlessly rewatchable whodunnit. With the popularity of the film and the sequel moving ahead quickly, we could be seeing a lot of films that try to recreate the fun of the inventive murder mystery. So it seems like a great time to recommend a few other films that fit into that particular mold and that might be worth seeking out for everyone who loved Knives Out.
15 The Nice Guys
Rian Johnson did a fantastic job of creating a film that fits into the murder mystery genre yet still plays with the conventions of the genre in fun and unexpected ways. Another film that achieves a similar trick is Shane Black’s hilarious crime-comedy The Nice Guys.
The film stars Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as two low-life private eyes who team together to solves a missing-person case. Black is clearly a big fan of the hard-boiled detective genre and that passion gives him a unique perspective on how to play with the rules of those kinds of films.
14 The Royal Tenenbaums
One of the best aspects of Knives Out is the dysfunctional family element at its center. The Thrombey’s are a family of wealthy and intelligent people who immediately turn into children when they don’t get what they want.
Though there is no murder mystery at the center of Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums, the titular family feels very similar to the Trombeys. The Tenenbaums are also a group of talented and wealthy people who come together into one big dysfunctional gathering where their own personal struggles come to light.
13 Sleuth
While there are a number of movies that can feel similar to Knives Out in a variety of ways, there are some specific movies that directly inspired the film. Rian Johnson has talked about a number of these inspirations, including Sleuth.
The 1972 film stars Laurence Olivier as a famous author of detective novel who invites his wife’s lover (Michael Caine) to his home where the two men engage in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse. Johnson has acknowledged the setting of a remote and massive mansion something he borrowed for his own films.
12 Deathtrap
There seems to be something about people involved in the creative process that makes them interesting characters within a murder mystery. Deathtrap is a 1982 film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Michael Caine as a struggling playwright for plots to murder a more talented up-and-coming writer (Christopher Reeves) and steal his work.
The movie is another clever and unique take on the genre. It also is hilarious in a very dark way which is one of the aspects that makes Knives Out such a fun movie as well.
11 Ready Or Not
Knives Out manages to be a hugely entertaining murder mystery while also making some interesting commentary about those who have privilege and those who do not. That was a theme shared by a lot of 2019 films, including the horror-comedy Ready or Not.
The film stars Samara Weaving as a young woman who is marrying into a family who made their wealth in board games. However, on her wedding night, she finds herself in a deadly game of hide-and-seek. It is a wild, hilarious and bloody romp worth seeking out.
10 Brick
Knives Out was not Johnson’s first foray into the mystery genre. In fact, his feature directorial debut was an underrated mystery noir called Brick. The movie stars Joseph Gordon Levitt as a high school kid investigating the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.
Though it is set in a modern high school setting, the movie is presented as an old-school detective film. The stylized approach avoids feeling like a gimmick and gives the film a unique and compelling feel. And like all good movies of the genre, the central mystery keeps you guessing throughout.
9 Scream
Horror movies can often use the “whodunit” mystery in their stories as the group of targeted teens try to determine who the killer is as they get killed off one-by-one. Scream follows the same path with a Ghostface killer stalking the heroes. However, the film brilliantly uses horror tropes to its advantage.
This film cleverly features characters who have seen all the typical slasher films and know all the clichés. The movie does a great job of playing with those expectations to keep the audience guessing until the killer is finally revealed in an effective fashion.
8 Bad Times At The El Royale
Part of the great fun of Knives Out is seeing all these great famous actors sharing the screen and playing characters with their own little secrets. Another movie with a similar setup is the o overlooked gem, Bad Times at the El Royale. The movie stars the likes of Jeff Bridges, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm and Chris Hemsworth as strangers who converge on the titular motel.
The movie slowly reveals what each of these people is hiding beneath the surface and how their own journeys start to collide with one another.
7 Identity
Like Bad Times at the El Royale, Identity also follows a group of strangers who find themselves staying at the same motel on a rainy night. Before long, the guests begin to get picked off one-by-one as the others try to determine which of them is the killer.
The movie is a twisty thriller with a great cast including John Cusack, Amanda Peet, and Ray Liotta. While the final twist was disappointing to some, the movie maintains an effective dark and threatening feel that keeps you hooked.
6 Green For Danger
Green for Danger is an older murder mystery that fits quite in line with the kids of movies Johnson would have taken inspiration from. The movie stars Alastair Sim as a detective investigating a group of doctors after a death during surgery is ruled as a murder.
Much like Daniel Craig’s Southern detective in Knives Out, Sim plays an unusual detective who adds a lot of levity to the murder investigation. The movie slowly reveals layers to its mystery until the final, satisfying reveal that was staring you in the face the whole time.
5 Game Night
Though Knives Out deals with an apparent murder, it is not light on its comedy. Another fun mystery comedy that mixes the laughs with suspense is Game Night. The film stars Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams as a couple who host a game night with friends. However, when their murder mystery turns out to be real, they find themselves in a world of danger.
The fantastic cast help bring a lot of energy to this clever and hilarious story. As the stakes continue to rise and things get more ridiculous, the laughs just get bigger.
4 Murder On The Orient Express
Agatha Christie is a big and obvious influence on Knives Out by Johnson’s own admission. The legendary author is responsible for some of the most famous mystery novels, including Murder on the Orient Express.
There are a few versions of this story worth checking out with Kenneth Branagh’s 2017 remake being the most recent. Branagh plays renowned and eccentric detective Hercule Poirot who investigates the murder of a passenger onboard a luxury train. The all-star cast, the stirring mystery and Branagh’s fun performance make for an exciting adventure.
3 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
The hard-boiled detective stories share a lot of similarities with the whodunit genre. As Knives Out cleverly plays with its own genre, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang also follows a similar mystery setup while subverting the genre clichés.
Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer star as a mismatched pair who find themselves investigating the death of a young woman which grows into a larger conspiracy. The hilarious script from Shane Black mixes the irreverent humor with a complex and compelling mystery.
2 Gosford Park
While the premise of a murder at a party in a posh English country home sounds very cliched, in the hands of a master filmmaker like Robert Altman, the film becomes much more interesting. Great actors like Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren, and Clive Owen lend a lot of talent to the familiar but engrossing story.
The movie is not merely a typical mystery but also a dissection of class differences and who holds the power in a household like this. It is a clever, funny, and charming story despite the deadly aspect of the story.
1 Clue
Making a movie out of a board game sounds dubious, but Clue proved there is a way to do it well. The movie follows the set up of the classic game with characters like Colonel Mustard and Miss Scarlet who attend a party at a mansion where the host is killed and the others must discover the identity of the killer.
The movie has a lot of fun with the premise and the cast of funny people, led by a fantastic performance by Tim Curry as the butler. The movie has a fast joke-a-minute pace that makes for an incredibly fun watch.
