History YMMV / KnivesOut

** Joni crosses it for embezzling from Harlan under the guise of needing extra money for Meg's tuition, and revealing to her daughter that she's broke after the will is read rather than create a college plan for her. She screwed over her own daughter out of greed.

** A subtle RunningGag throughout the film is that the Thrombeys are very inconsistent in where they think she and her family came from. In several different scenes, they matter-of-factly claim she's from Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Brazil. It is noteworthy that the official language in Brazil is Portuguese, instead of the three countries mentioned, in which the official language is Spanish. This is yet more proof of the Thrombeys' ignorance.

** Ditto for watching Benoit [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech absolutely rip into]] the Thrombeys for their treatment of Marta.

* WhatAnIdiot:
** Richard Drysdale, who, as seen during [[spoiler:Ransom's arrest]], seems to be under the impression that bribery involves waving a wad of cash at an arresting officer while yelling and hoping he takes it. The police officer does not. If anything, Richard is lucky none of the cops take him seriously as even attempting to bribe a police officer is a federal offense and he's doing this with plenty of witnesses.
** Fran the housekeeper. Bless her heart, but she ''really should have known better'' than [[spoiler:trying to blackmail Ransom after realizing that he attempted to kill Harlan and framed Marta for the act, then arranged to meet with him in a dark, secluded laundry ''alone'' to discuss their terms despite knowing that the man will go to any length to achieve his goal]] instead of doing the sensible thing and telling the police (or really, anyone else) about it. Unsurprisingly, [[spoiler:it gets her killed, and if Marta wasn't kind enough to try to resuscitate her so that she could last long enough to arrive at a hospital, her premature death would play right into Ransom's plan to implicate Marta and he would've gotten away with it all, the very thing she was trying to prevent.]]
* WinBackTheCrowd: For some members of a [[Franchise/StarWars certain franchise]]'s [[BrokenBase crowd]], ''Knives Out'' is seen as proof that Rian Johnson's work on ''Film/TheLastJedi'' wasn't emblematic of his abilities as a director or writer. ''Knives Out'' in general is seen as much less divisive and aggravating, especially since he's writing his own characters rather than working in a pre-established franchise. That it's a completely different genre (and one where [[SubvertedTrope the subversion of tropes]] is more commonly accepted at that, if not ''expected'') also helps.

* UnfortunateImplications: Marta's storyline, where [[spoiler:her rich white employer bequeaths his considerable estate to her, his hardworking immigrant nurse, because she was a good person]], has attracted [[https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/27/20984387/knives-out-rian-johnson-mystery-ending-lakeith-stanfield-daniel-craig-chris-evans criticism]] [[https://www.dorkaholics.com/untangling-the-good-immigrant-narrative-in-knives-out/ for]] leaning into the "good immigrant" myth -- the notion that immigrants deserve rights and privileges because they are good and hardworking, not necessarily because they are human. Marta is so ''transparently'' perfect (to the point she literally ''cannot lie'' without vomiting) that it can be argued she's less a ''character'' and more a collection of "good immigrant" traits. It [[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/27/opinion/knives-out-movie.html also been noted]] for leaning heavily into issues of deportation and immigration in a way that may be offensive to Hispanic immigrants, especially considering that creator Creator/RianJohnson is a white man who was born in America. It could be argued that Marta's mother being in poor health (and Marta wishing to avoid the stress and strain of a long trial or legal battle) could have been just as strong an impetus to cover up the [[spoiler: supposed accidental overdose]] without leaning on tired stereotypes.

** Walt could be considered one. [[spoiler:Though deleted scenes reveal he's thrown in with some very bad people and risks their wrath if he doesn't pay them back, his greatest sins early in the final film are riding his father's coattails and wanting to believe the best of his son. He becomes much less sympathetic when decides to use Marta's mother's immigration status as blackmail leverage midway through the film but even this is nrought more from desperation and fear than genuine malice.]]

** Creator/RianJohnson's screenplay was nominated for an Oscar but the film itself was not nominated for Best Picture (despite considerable acclaim) and Creator/AnaDeArmas was likewise overlooked for Best Actress.
** Daniel Craig failing to get a nomination for either Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor is equally slighting.

** A subtle RunningGag throughout the film is that the Thrombeys are very inconsistent in where they think she and her family came from. In several different scenes, they matter-of-factly claim she's from Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Brazil. It is noteworthy that the official language in Brazil is Portuguese, instead of the three countries mentioned, in which the official language is Spanish. This is yet another proof of the ignorance of the Thrombeys.

** Fans of ''Film/TheLastJedi'' (or those even those who disliked it but were surprised by this film) took a liking to this, for seeing Rian Johnson direct a film not hampered by studio interference.

** Fans of ''Film/TheLastJedi'' (or those who disliked it but don't form their personality around hating it) took a liking to this, to see Rian Johnson direct a film not hampered by studio interference.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: It's very easy to read Harlan as a dick who decided to screw over his own family because they didn't turn out to be the people ''he'' wanted them to be. He punishes Meg by proxy when finding out that Joni was embezzling from him, even though Meg was attending college and had no incentive to screw over her grandfather. Likewise, he cuts off Linda and doesn't even leave a [[spoiler:coded message or]] explanation why. What hammers it home is that Marta emphasizes she doesn't ''want'' the money, she wants to stay out of trouble, and he knew it would be hard for her when the family found out. The movie tries to make them all terrible people, but it falls a bit flat. [[spoiler:Also, he refuses to let his own nurse do ''the job she's paid for'' and thus his death is entirely his own fault.]]

* UnfortunateImplications: Marta's storyline, where [[spoiler:her rich white employer bequeaths his considerable estate to her, his hardworking immigrant nurse, because she was a good person]], has attracted [[https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/27/20984387/knives-out-rian-johnson-mystery-ending-lakeith-stanfield-daniel-craig-chris-evans criticism]] [[https://www.dorkaholics.com/untangling-the-good-immigrant-narrative-in-knives-out/ for]] leaning into the "good immigrant" myth -- the notion that immigrants deserve rights and privileges because they are good and hardworking, not necessarily because they are human. It [[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/27/opinion/knives-out-movie.html also been noted]] for leaning heavily into issues of deportation and immigration in a way that may be offensive to Hispanic immigrants, especially considering that creator Creator/RianJohnson is a white man who was born in America. It could be argued that Marta's mother being in poor health (and Marta wishing to avoid the stress and strain of a long trial or legal battle) could have been just as strong an impetus to cover up the [[spoiler: supposed accidental overdose]] without leaning on tired stereotypes.

* HilariousInHindsight: Early in the film, Walt mentions to Harlan that Netflix had expressed interest in handing over a handsome amount of money to make adaptations of his books, which Harlan is dismissive of. This very film's runaway success was so huge that Netflix actually took notice and offered Creator/RianJohnson a whopping '''[[https://www.indiewire.com/2021/04/rian-johnson-payday-netflix-knives-out-deal-1234628391/ $400M deal]]''' for the rights of the next two Knives Out sequels, making the ProductPlacement here feel like a retroactive EnforcedPlug on Johnson's part.

* UnfortunateImplications: Marta's storyline, where [[spoiler:her rich white employer bequeaths his considerable estate to her, his hardworking immigrant nurse, because she was a good person]], has attracted [[https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/27/20984387/knives-out-rian-johnson-mystery-ending-lakeith-stanfield-daniel-craig-chris-evans criticism]] [[https://www.dorkaholics.com/untangling-the-good-immigrant-narrative-in-knives-out/ for]] leaning into the "good immigrant" myth -- the notion that immigrants deserve rights and privileges because they are good and hardworking, not necessarily because they are human. It [[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/27/opinion/knives-out-movie.html also been noted]] for leaning heavily into issues of deportation and immigration in a way that may be offensive to Hispanic immigrants, especially considering that creator Creator/RianJohnson is a white man who was born in America.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The first act of the film has many of the family members demonstrating CondescendingCompassion towards Marta and noting offhand they "wanted her" at the funeral but each party was ostensibly outvoted. They call her a hardworking "good girl," one of the "good" immigrants whose mother came here legally, and a hard worker. It's revealed that Marta hates this attitude but keeps her feelings behind a professional demeanor because it's her job to monitor Harlan, not express an opinion. (We also find out they excluded Fran from the funeral, despite us finding out she loved Harlan like a grandfather and was bereft on seeing evidence [[spoiler:that Ransom had murdered him while framing Marta]]. After a while of this, and them turning on Marta after [[spoiler:learning Harlan left the estate, money, and house to her]], Benoit Blanc confronts them. He gives them all a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech about how none of them really cared about Marta, only about making themselves feel better and if they had any dignity they would have been upfront about it. It's a very heavyhanded message but a necessary one, and even Marta had to hear it to realize that yes, she did deserve better.

* AbandonShipping: A very common reaction to [[spoiler: Marta x Ransom,]] although it's still amassed a considerable AngelDevilShipping fanbase. [[spoiler: Just to recap, he's a bigoted JerkWithAHeartOfJerk who attempts to frame an innocent immigrant's daughter for murder and tries to kill her when he's caught. Before TheReveal, however, it's easy to get caught up in the attractiveness of and the chemistry between Chris Evans and Ana de Armas.]]

** Similarly, the beginning of the film lead some viewers to ship Marta with Meg, due to the obvious closeness between them and Meg seemingly being a WhiteSheep to her family, similarly to Harlan. Only for almost all potential shippers to completely drop it after [[spoiler: Meg betrays Marta’s confidence and reveals her mother’s illegal immigrant status to her family— who Meg ''knows'' are racist and xenophobic, and currently working against Marta.]]

** Walt could be considered one. [[spoiler:Though deleted scenes reveal he's thrown in with some very bad people and risks their wrath if he doesn't pay them back, his greatest sins early in the final film are riding his father's coattails and wanting to believe the best of his son. Of course, this goes out the window when he decides to use Marta's mother's immigration status as blackmail leverage midway through the film.]]

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Privileged people who believe that they're NiceToTheWaiter will quickly change their tune when their wealth is threatened.

* HilariousInHindsight: Early in the film, Walt mentions to Harlan that Netflix had expressed interest in handing over a handsome amount of money to make adaptations of his books, which Harlan is dismissive of. This very film's runaway success was so huge that Netflix actually took notice and offered Creator/RianJohnson a whopping '''[[https://www.indiewire.com/2021/04/rian-johnson-payday-netflix-knives-out-deal-1234628391/ $400M dollar deal]]''' for the rights of the next two Knives Out sequels.

** Harlan's decision to cut Walt loose, meanwhile, can also be seen as unnecessarily harsh given that Walt appears to have been a decent employee of Harlan's, and Harlan never really goes into too much detail about his motives for doing so beyond giving Walt a chance to develop his own creative talents (although it's heavily implied in dialogue that Harlan is intending to explain further at a later date when Walt is less intoxicated, but never gets a chance to do so due to his death). A deleted scene fleshes him out a bit, indicating that Walt has gotten into debt with criminals who caused his leg injury and, it's implied, has been embezzling from the business in order to try and keep himself afloat; his actions, while still hardly justifiable, are consequently shown to be motivated in part by fear.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The entire score, but especially the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuImJ7X9LW4 main theme]] by Nathan Johnson, which WebVideo/CinemaWins accurately describes as "somehow a parody of a whodunnit score while still being a whodunnit score".

** Best Production Design is another major snub for a film where the house is a character in itself.