WARNING: This post contains spoilers for the movie Knives Out!
Sorry for abusing the heading style, I just wanted the warning to stand out. This movie is an interesting whodunnit. If you haven’t seen it, I’d recommend checking it out before reading this blog post.
Captain was wondering if there are hints about the answers to the mysteries in the movie that you can catch while watching the movie, so I thought I’d use my abundance of spare time to find out.
The copy of the script I’m using is from the Lionsgate website:
https://lionsgate.brightspotcdn.com/fb/14/23cd58a147afbb5c758ecb3dff0a/knivesout-final.pdf
Which I’ll upload again here in case it’s removed.
I spoke in the car about the hole at the center of this donut. And yes, what you and Harlan did that fateful night seems at first glance to fill that hole perfectly. A donut hole in the donut’s hole. But we must look a little closer. And when we do, we see that the donut hole has a hole in its center – it is not a donut hole at all but a smaller donut with its own hole, and our donut is not whole at all!
Benoit Blanc
This movie is a whodunnit, but it’s untraditional in the sense that it’s over two hours long, however, the audience is told who the killer is at 42 minutes. The rest of the movie is spent seeing if Marta gets away with her deception, but there’s another mystery that you quickly forget about due to the speed of the story chugging along. I’ll break the post down into two parts, one for each mystery.
- Who killed Harlan Thrombey?
- Who hired Benoit Blanc and why?
Who killed Harlan Thrombey?
Through the police interviews, we are given three possible suspects:
- Joni: Harlan’s daughter-in-law who was double-dipping money from Harlan with her daughter’s tuition, and Harlan had told her earlier that day that he was cutting her off.
- Richard: Harlan’s son-in-law, who was having an affair which Harlan threatened to reveal.
- Walt: Harlan’s son, who had been fired from running Harlan’s publishing company during the birthday party.
But it’s during Marta’s recollection of the events the night before, that we find out Harlan really did commit suicide. He did it in order to stop Marta from being suspected of his murder, which he says would break up her family as her mother is in the United States illegally. Some of these hints are things that are pointed out in the summary, but I’ll list them again anyway.
Harlan’s clothes
When Fran goes to bring Harlan his breakfast the morning after the party, his dressing gown can be seen on his bed.
When Fran discovers Harlan’s body, we see that he’s wearing the shirt he was wearing at his birthday party. When “Harlan” was going downstairs for a midnight snack, and got told off by Walt, he’s wearing his dressing gown, so you’d think he at least changed out of his shirt to get ready for bed. So the fact that his dressing gown is on his bed, but he isn’t there, and he’s still in his party shirt hints that something doesn’t quite add up.
The blood spatter
As Elliott said, and as we can see from the picture of his body, it would be really difficult for someone to slit his throat without ruining the blood spatter. And it looks continuous, so it’s unlikely his body was moved (and it would have been picked up by the forensic analysis if it had been moved).
LIEUTENANT ELLIOTT Except it was a suicide. Harlan hit both carotids, we saw from the blood blood splat patterns that they were uninterrupted. Meaning, It's almost impossible for anyone to have been around him at the time. He's the one that cut his own throat. I don't know why we keep going over this.
Harlan’s talent for thinking up complex plots
During the interview, Walt mentions how good Harlan is at coming up with plots.
WALT Dad said the plots just popped into his head fully formed, that was the easy part for him -
This foreshadows the fact that Harlan was able to quickly come up with a locked door mystery that would make Marta an “impossible” suspect.
Who hired Benoit Blanc and why?
BLANC You've been very patient my friend, and you are right, none of these weak alibis and domestic squibbles answer your question: why is Benoit Blanc here? But now I will tell you why. (beat) I am here because this morning someone dodged one very important question. LIEUTENANT ELLIOTT Who? BLANC Me. Linda asked who hired me. LIEUTENANT ELLIOTT So who hired you? BLANC I. Do. Not. Know. An envelope of cash showed up at my apartment yesterday, with the news clipping of Thrombey's death. TROOPER WAGNER An envelope? That worked? BLANC An envelope of cash. Blanc indicates with his fingers - several inches thick. BLANC (cont'd) So somebody suspects foul play, but goes through this ha cha dance of hiring me, of staying anonymous. It makes no damn sense. Compels me though.
What I liked so much about this movie is that Blanc mentions this and then the movie moved so quickly that I completely forgot about it until the summation at the end. But there are a few hints throughout the movie that it was Ransom. He needed to have Marta found responsible for Harlan’s death so she couldn’t inherit due to the slayer rule, which would mean Harlan’s old will would come back into effect. However, he couldn’t directly accuse her, or it would reveal he knew the contents of the vials were switched.
New Yorker article
During the interviews at the start of the movie, two characters mention a Benoit Blanc article in the New Yorker:
JONI Wait a minute - I read a tweet about a New Yorker article about you. The last of the gentlemen sleuths? You solved that case with the tennis champ - you're famous!
LINDA Mr. Blanc, I know who you are, I read your New Yorker profile. It was delightful. I just buried my eighty five year old father who committed suicide. Why are you here?
Marta takes the blackmail letter to Ransom, and you can see copies of the New Yorker sitting on his coffee table in the background.
Harlan’s mental state
Marta describes how symptoms should start appearing within 5 minutes, in particular, disorientation.
MARTA I give you an emergency shot of Naloxone, so that you don't die in ten minutes. HARLAN Well no pressure. You know that's an interesting, efficient method for murder, I need to write that down. He gets a little notebook and scribbles while she checks and rechecks the kit contents with increasing urgency. HARLAN (cont'd) So if someone switched the meds on purpose I'd be dead in ten minutes, like stone cold dead? MARTA You'll feel symptoms in five. Sweats, disorientation. Then yeah, that big a dose, injected, within ten your respiratory - your - yes ten minutes. HARLAN From the time of injection, so eightish now. And even if the victim called an ambulance when he first felt symptoms, if he was at a country home like this one... where the ambulance takes fifteen minutes to arrive, it would be too late. If the victim didn't have this emergency Naxostuff
Harlan later states how long they have left – 6 minutes, i.e. 1 minute until disorientation should start.
HARLAN (cont'd) Listen. If what you said is true I am gone, there's no saving me, we have six minutes. There is one last thing I need to do in this world, and only you can help me do it. But you need to trust me and do everything I say
We can’t say exactly how long this takes, but I’ll use the timestamps in the movie. His line, “We have six minutes” is at 39:27, Joni enters at 39:45 and leaves at 40:10 and he is still perfectly fine. Harlan then begins to explain the plan to Marta. By the time he’s done explaining, it’s 42:56. Even if we subtract some time for Marta to perform his actions, it’s still well past the 5 minutes remaining where he is supposed to start becoming disoriented. The fact that he’s still sharp as ever is a sign that Marta didn’t inject him with morphine. This is a sign that something is odd, as Marta is certain she filled the syringe from the vial that said morphine.
Back again already?
When Marta flashes back to her climb down the trellis, Greatnana says:
GREATNANA Ransom? Are you back again already?
Marta thinks Greatnana has just mistaken her for Ransom, but as Blanc points out, the “already” part is key – a hint that Ransom has come back to the house once already, when he switched the contents of the vials of medicine in Marta’s bag.
Footprints in the mud
When wandering the grounds with Blanc and the police, Blanc notices footprints in the mud and thinks about when it last rains. He realises that any footprints found are likely to belong to the potential killer. Marta realises the same thing, and we see her check her own footprint.
When she’s walking in her own prints and pretending she can’t hear Blanc, we get a glimpse of the ground, and we can see footprints that match her shoe tread, but there’s also another of shoe tread we can see. It’s never explained who it belongs to, but it’s probably Ransom.
Dogs barking
When Harlan gives his instructions to Marta, he mentions that she should be OK to enter the house undetected after “leaving” as the dogs won’t bark when they see her.
HARLAN (V.O.) Take the side yard path, through that little gate. The DOGS sprint down the moonlit yard from the house towards Marta. HARLAN (V.O.) (cont'd) The dogs will know you, they shouldn't bark.
When Lieutenant Elliot gives a timeline of events, he mentions Meg waking up at around 3am because the dogs were barking.
LIEUTENANT ELLIOTT (V.O.) Sometime later that night, undetermined but possibly near 3am, Meg woke up because the dogs were barking outside. She used the bathroom and went back to bed.
We see the dogs bark when Lietentant Elliot, Blanc and Trooper Wagner are walking around the grounds, showing that they do bark when around people they are wary of.
We also see the dogs happily greet Linda and Richard.
Then we see them snap and bite at Ransom, which makes it likely that he was around the house at 3am, which caused the dogs to bark.
Marta’s missing medical bag
BLANC (to Marta) Where's your medical bag? MARTA I... don't know - I left it here, I always leave it with Harlan at night. TROOPER WAGNER They must have taken it in as evidence. I'll check on it.
It turns out the medical bag wasn’t taken into evidence, but was stolen by Fran who would later use it to blackmail Ransom.
Funeral absence
WALT Funny Ransom, you skipped the funeral but you're early for the will reading.
At first, the audience is led to believe that Ransom skipped the funeral because he’s an asshole. And while that may be true, we later discover that he skipped the funeral because he needed to swap the contents of the vials back and he thought the house would be empty as everyone would be at the funeral.
Funeral Absence 2
Speaking of funeral absences, Linda and Walt mention wanting Marta at the funeral, but being outvoted. This highlights the fact that despite family members saying how much they consider Marta part of the family, they really don’t. When Linda is asked by Lieutenant Elliot whether anyone aside from the family shows, she mentions Fran, Marta and Greatnana (this one is a big question mark, since Greatnana is Harlan’s mother, so she is definitely part of the family. What a wonderful family).
LIEUTENANT ELLIOTT (V.O.) Did anyone besides the family show face? LINDA (V.O.) Uh. There was Fran, the housekeeper. Marta, Harlan's caregiver, good girl, hard worker. Family's from Ecuador. And Wanetta - Greatnana, Harlan's mom.
More importantly, it foreshadows the fact that the housekeeper, Fran, would also not be invited to to the funeral. Which means she is at the mansion when Ransom sneaks in to switch the vials back.
Dirt on the window sill
Another one taken from Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/hxk8km/in_knives_out_2019_there_is_mud_on_the_windowsill/
When Blanc inspects the trick window after the will reading, he finds dirt on the window sill.
When we flash back to Marta entering the window, we see that she doesn’t step on the window sill.
When we flash back to Ransom climbing through the window, he steps on the window sill.
Rian Johnson mentions how happy he was that Chris Evans had his foot on the window sill as a tiny detail. However, if you see where his foot is, and where the dirt is on the window, it’s different! Minor nitpick.
Knowledge of the contents of the will
When Marta asks Harlan how the party went, he specifically mentions cutting the line on four of them.
MARTA How was tonight? She hooks the syringe up to the catheter and slowly injects him bit by bit while he talks. HARLAN Tonight was... good. MARTA Because I know you weren't looking forward to it. HARLAN No. But I did it. Cut the line on all four of them. It was not easy. This goddamn fortune.
We know from above that he threatened Richard, and told Joni she was being cut off, and fired Walt, but we don’t find out who the fourth person is until later.
There’s only one mention of Harlan discussing his will during the party, and that was in his conversation behind closed doors with Ransom. We find this out through Jacob, who heard them through a vent in the toilet.
LINDA Alright! Enough. Jacob, we get where this is going. The bathroom's next to Harlan's office, where he had the big fight with Ransom. You heard something. Spill it. JACOB I just heard two things. INT. HALF BATH - NIGHT OF PARTY - FLASHBACK Jacob on the toilet, hearing non distinct yelling through a vent high in the wall. But two words poke through: HARLAN (O.S.) ...my will! INT. LIVING ROOM JACOB And then there was more shouting, but I also heard Ransom say "I'm warning you."
So we know Harlan discussed his will with Ransom, but we are led assume, as the other Thrombeys did, that Harlan had simply told Ransom he was cutting him out of the will. He confirms at least this much.
RICHARD Son. RANSOM (mock gravity) Father? RICHARD Did Harlan tell you he was cutting you out of the will? RANSOM Yes.
But when he describes his converation with Harlan to Marta in the diner, the conversation turns to how Marta beat Harlan at Go more often than Ransom did.
RANSOM I always thought I was the only one who could beat Granddad at GO. I always thought that meant something. MARTA I know you did. RANSOM At the party, that night, my last conversation with him, our last fight, that's what he told me, about you. That you beat him nearly every time. More than me. And I thought what a strange thing to tell me. But I think I get it now. I think it did mean something.
Damn right, Ransom, it was a strange thing to tell you. As Blanc points out, it’s pretty weird for them to be talking about Marta when discussing Harlan’s will. Unless Harlan revealed that he was leaving everything to Marta. Which would mean Ransom knew about the updated will. That leaves us with two people that know about the updated will – Ransom and Harlan.
This is further confirmed by Ransom’s behaviour at the will reading.
And after the will is read:
And from the back of the room, slowly rising above the din of confusion and cursing, slowly drawing even Marta's deer in the headlights attention... Ransom. LAUGHING. Loud and weirdly sincerely, tears down his cheeks, laughing his head off.
Ransom’s confidence that Harlan didn’t commit suicide
When at the diner with Marta, Ransom says he knows three things, one of them being that Harlan didn’t commit suicide. Which is a strange thing to be so confident about considering we know that Harlan did commit suicide.
RANSOM Marta I know three things. One: I know he didn't commit suicide. MARTA What makes you think that RANSOM I don't think it. I know it. Cause I knew my granddad. So you're not going to bullshit me.
Slayer Rule
JONI What about the slayer rule? All eyes turn to her. Her face is lit by her phone. JONI (cont'd) I did just google that. ALAN The slayer rule obviously does not apply here. RICHARD What the hell is the slayer rule? JONI It's if someone is convicted of killing the person they can't get their inheritance. ALAN Not even convicted, even if they're held responsible for their death in civil court WALT Like OJ ALAN Like OJ, yes. But Harlan committed suicide.
I don’t know whether the slayer rule is common knowledge – I didn’t know about it until watching this movie, though I am not familiar with law. Judging by the reactions of the characters in the movie, and the fact that Rian Johnson made sure to spell it out, let’s say it’s not common knowledge (or at least not common at the time the movie was made).
We can’t be certain that Harlan knew about the slayer rule, but considering he writes mystery novels for a living, we can pretty safely say that he’s aware of the common motives for murder: passion, drugs, money. Inheritance murder even has its own TV tropes page. Given mystery novels usually end with the protagonist finding the killer, and the killer ending up with nothing, it’s not too far-fetched to assume he knew about the slayer rule.
Which casts the scene where he’s trying to help Marta get away with manslaughter in a new light. He knows that she can’t be found to be responsible for his death, otherwise his new will will end up voided.
So if we assume Harlan is aware of the slayer rule, then it’s not unreasonable to assume Ransom learned about it during his Summer as Harlan’s research assistant. Harlan even says that Ransom is just like him.
HARLAN And Ransom. Harlan takes a curved ornamental dagger from a display mount, turns it over in his hands. HARLAN (cont'd) Jesus there's so much me in that kid. Confident, stupid, I dunno.
Which also foreshadows Ransom’s incredible ability to weave complex plans on the fly – having Harlan’s ability to come up with plots quickly. He came up with his plan while driving away angrily from the house. Also, after discovering the Marta was innocent of poisoning Harlan, quickly thinks up a new plan to both deal with the blackmailer and cause Marta to be arrested.
Questions about evidence
In the guise of trying to help Marta get away with her crime, Ransom grills her on what the police know. It seems like he’s just concerned about what they need to cover up in order to get away with the crime, but it’s also to make sure he isn’t caught himself.
RANSOM Ok then. Did the detective find anything suspicious at the house? MARTA (in a daze) Mud. Tracks upstairs - where I broke in through the window. Ransom winces. RANSOM Identifiable prints? MARTA No. RANSOM Good. Ok. Good. Hey. You've just gotta ride the next few days out until the investigation putters out, cause it will, cause no matter how sharp this Blanc guy is he's got nothing. Relax.
Missing water bottle
Taken from https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/k05yob/another_knives_out_2019_detail_i_just_noticed/
When Marta is in Ransom’s house, you can see a row of glass bottles in the background, but one is missing. When the movie flashes back to Ransom burning down the medical examiner’s office, you can see he uses a brown glass bottle.
The blackmailer
Fran mentions a Hallmark movie to Marta called Deadly by Surprise where a wife is poisoned by her husband. She also mentions her cousin who works as a receptionist at the medical examiner’s office. These are the hints that she saw Ransom do something, and that she has a way of getting access to the toxicology report.
FRAN I don't think he killed himself I don't. I don't. There's this Hallmark movie Deadly By Surprise where Danica McKellar plays a wife who gets poisoned by her husband but bit by bit so she thinks she's going crazy and she ends up killing herself, and my cousin who's the receptionist at the medical examiners office says that kind of thing can totally happen, she says it's not even like 3% as crazy as stuff she's seen come through the -
Conclusion
I really like the pacing of this movie, and the way it twists and turns. I’ve watched it another six or seven times from start to end just to try and find things for this blog post. MrFodder asked if I was willing to watch it again with him, and I said yes. Though maybe not right away.
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