History YMMV / KnivesOut

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: Harlan makes a speech about how he's not afraid to die, but he wants to ensure that all of his loose ends are tied up, that he could fix his family and leaves a better future for Marta and them, "to close the book with a fluorish". [[https://www.eonline.com/news/1235316/knives-out-stars-ana-de-armas-chris-evans-and-more-react-to-christopher-plummers-death In one of the greatest cases of irony, when Christopher Plummer died]], Chris Evans who played Ransom, [[spoiler:Harlan's would-be killer]], [[https://twitter.com/ChrisEvans/status/1357767156709130241?s=20 said, "This is truly heartbreaking. What an unbelievable loss. Few careers have such longevity and impact. One of my favorite memories from Knives Out was playing piano together in the Thrombey house between set ups. He was a lovely man and a legendary talent."]] It's nice to know there is one world where [[spoiler:Harlan and Ransom remained loving towards another]].

** Wealthy, elitist conservatives get a thrashing via the majority of the Thrombeys. Excluding Harlan and Nana, the family is arrogant, ''horrifically'' racist, and constantly boasts about their name despite only becoming wealthy thanks to Harlan's hard work, making them come off as incredibly snobbish. Their political biases against immigrants and a staunch support of the law is quick to be discarded [[LaserGuidedKarma when their position is threatened]].
** The BourgeoisBohemian also gets zero love as seemingly progressive characters like Meg and Joni appear to be much more interested in their personal rebellions and struggles that don't threaten their wealth, becoming otherwise reactionary when their own privilege is questioned and are shown to be just as racist and classist as the rest of them.

** Ditto for watching Benoit [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech absolutely rip into]] the Thrombeys for their treatment of Marta and trying to steal a fortune that's rightfully her's. Not to mention the power shift in which now [[spoiler:the family realizes in the end they have no choice now but to accept that Marta has all the power and hope that she won't be harsh on them all]].

** 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 brought more from desperation and fear than genuine malice.]]

* NauseaFuel: [[spoiler:Marta [[VomitIndiscretionShot vomiting chunkily]] all over Ransom's face.]] Doubles as a [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Funny Moment]].

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/GetOut2017''. A genre film that has AnAesop on how the patronizing, paternalistic brand of racism that is common in seemingly liberal-minded crowds of white people is not that different (perhaps worse in some ways) from its more violent and outwardly hateful variant. Whereas ''Get Out'' focused on the racism black Americans experience from this crowd, ''Knives Out'' focuses on the racism and xenophobia Hispanic Americans endure. Notably, both movies center in and around large homes set in an unnamed Northeast/New England suburb, and Lakeith Stanfield plays supporting roles in both (Jamie Lee Curtis' character even shouts at his to "get out" in one scene).

* StrawmanHasAPoint: While it doesn't excuse her behavior, given that Linda had never been singled out for a private talk with Harlan, she was presumably unaware of why Harlan was getting fed up with the family, and that he had been wishing they were more self-sufficient, which could make her angry reaction towards the will-reading a little less insincere and hypocritical than those of her husband, brother and sisters-in-law. Related, based upon the limited information that she has about the situation and her father's intentions, her questioning of whether Marta was sleeping with her father doesn't seem unreasonable. Harlan didn't even leave anything to Fran or ''his own mother'' (though in the latter case, she might have her own money in a trust, or Harlan could simply have assumed she would predecease him).

** Meg also has a lot of defenders who will try to justify her [[spoiler:selling out Marta's secret about her mother's immigration status so the family could blackmail her]], even though it was incredibly selfish and, given her previously voiced political opinions, hypocritical thing to do no matter what kind of pressure she was under.

** "I just got cast in ''Knives Out 2''!"[[labelnote:explanation]]After a number of high-profile casting announcements for the ''Knives Out'' sequel were released in short order in May 2021, it became a common joke among fans to assume literally everyone was being cast in the film, and they were simply awaiting their own casting announcement.[[/labelnote]]

** Meg also has a lot of defenders who will try to justify her [[spoiler:selling out Marta's secret about her mother's immigration status so the family could blackmail her]], even though it was an incredibly selfish and, given her previously voiced political opinions, hypocritical thing to do no matter what kind of pressure she was under.

** Wealthy, elitist conservatives get a thrashing via the majority of the Thrombeys. Excluding Harlan and Nana, the family is arrogant, ''horrifically'' racist, and constantly boasts about their name despite only becoming wealthy thanks to Harlan's hard work, making them come off as highly snobbish. Their political bias against immigrants and a staunch support of the law is quick to be discarded [[LaserGuidedKarma when their position is threatened]].
** The BourgeoisBohemian also gets zero love as seemingly progressive characters like Meg and Joni appear to be much more interested in their personal rebellions and struggles that don't threaten their wealth, becoming otherwise reactionary when their own privilege is questioned and are shown to be just as racist as the rest of them.

* SugarWiki/DevelopmentHeaven: Creator/DanielCraig at his own initiative memorized his lines for the entirety of the climactic scene where Blanc explains who did what and how he figured it out. The script for that totals some thirty pages. Director Creator/RianJohnson would have been perfectly fine chopping it up to several shorter takes, but now he gladly took advantage of the situation to have several long camera shots of Craig's monologuing.

* Not the last time an MCU character plays a role in the Knives Out Films, when it comes to Cap, The Hulk (Edward Norton) appears in the second film.

** Seeing [[spoiler:Marta puking all over Ransom's face]] is just ''SO'' satisfying to watch, not just because said character deserves it for what he's just revealed to have done, but also because of what it means: [[spoiler:she just lied about Fran still being alive, and Ransom is going to go to jail for essentially confessing to her murder.]]
** Ditto for watching Benoit [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech absolutely rip into]] the Thrombeys for their treatment of Marta and trying to steal a fortune that's rightfully her's.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: Harlan makes a speech about how he's not afraid to die, but he wants to ensure that all of his loose ends are tied up, that he could fix his family and leaves a better future for Marta and them, "to close the book with a fluorish". [[https://www.eonline.com/news/1235316/knives-out-stars-ana-de-armas-chris-evans-and-more-react-to-christopher-plummers-death In one of the greatest cases of irony, when Chris Plummer died]], Chris Evans who played Ransom, [[spoiler:Harlan's would-be killer]], [[https://twitter.com/ChrisEvans/status/1357767156709130241?s=20 said, "This is truly heartbreaking. What an unbelievable loss. Few careers have such longevity and impact. One of my favorite memories from Knives Out was playing piano together in the Thrombey house between set ups. He was a lovely man and a legendary talent."]] It's nice to know there is one world where [[spoiler:Harlan and Ransom remained loving towards another]].

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation/KnivesOut Has its own page.]]

** Ransom. If you look like Creator/ChrisEvans and are one of the most entertaining characters in the movie, fans will forgive anything, including [[spoiler:arson, murder, attempted murder, elitism, racism, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking general jerkassery]].]]

* IdiotPlot:
** [[spoiler: Harlan Thrombey ''really'' cut his throat after preparing a convoluted plan to give an alibi to Marta and hide the morphine overdose she accidentally gave him (since the overdose would kill him before an ambulance would reach the mansion and Harlan wanted to make sure Marta wouldn't be suspected). Except for Marta's vials of medicine had been switched beforehand by Ransom in order to murder Harlan and make it look like an accident. The "overdose" was merely the result of Marta instinctively picking the right vial and not reading the switched label until after injecting his medicine as normal. So, since Harlan wasn't actually overdosing on morphine, not only would he still be alive if he'd allowed Marta to call an ambulance (because he ''wasn't'' injected with a lethal dose of morphine), but a quick investigation into the accident would quickly reveal Marta's medicine bag had been tampered with, turning the whole plot in a very different direction (an investigation for an obvious murder attempt, whose intended victim was still alive). Even if they had just stopped for a moment to take stock of his symptoms, they would have noticed he wasn't overdosing. A morphine overdose may kill you in ten minutes, but it'll leave you incoherent much sooner; if Harlan can still talk six minutes in, he's clearly fine.]]
** [[spoiler:Fran's sub-plot is just as bad. She spots Ransom going through Marta's medical bag and correctly guesses he had done something in an attempt to kill Harlan. Rather than telling the cops or Marta about this, she illegally acquires a copy of a report she doesn't understand, leading to the destruction of the crime lab. Fran then tries to blackmail Ransom, a man she suspects of ''murdering his grandfather'', in a location where nobody can stop him from murdering ''her''.]]

* SpiritualSuccessor:
** To Creator/RianJohnson's first film, ''Film/{{Brick}}'', being another DeconstructiveParody of a popular subgenre of DetectiveFiction, the British "cozy".
** Also, to ''Film/GetOut2017''. A genre film that has AnAesop on how the patronizing, paternalistic brand of racism that is common in seemingly liberal-minded crowds of white people is not that different (perhaps worse in some ways) from its more violent and outwardly hateful variant. Whereas ''Get Out'' focused on the racism black Americans experience from this crowd, ''Knives Out'' focuses on the racism and xenophobia Hispanic Americans endure. Notably, both movies center in and around large homes set in an unnamed Northeast/New England suburb, and Lakeith Stanfield plays supporting roles in both (Jamie Lee Curtis' character even shouts at his to "get out" in one scene).

* 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.
** The linked articles also note that the RunningGag about Harlan's family constantly getting Marta's ethnicity wrong merely draws attention to the fact her ethnicity is never actually ''identified'', reinforcing the idea that all Hispanics are interchangeable.

*** The film heavily justifies Harlan’s actions. Throughout the movie, Harlan is shown as being very stubborn, and never going back when hid mind is made up, and to have a natural and strong flair for the dramatic. He also is shown to trust Marta’s expertise and judgment. So it makes sense that Harlan would immediately trust Marta’s claims that he’s been given a morphine overdose. And that he would then not only come up with an over-the-top plan, but refuse to deviate from it because of his stubbornness and regard for Marta. Also, Harlan’s state six minutes in would be overshadowed by Marta’s panicked, grief-stricken state of guilt. She believed she doomed her best friend to death in that moment.

** "I just got cast in ''Knives Out 2''!"[[labelnote:explanation]]After a number of high-profile casting announcements for the ''Knives Out'' sequel were released in short order in May 2021, it became a common joke among fans to assume [[UpToEleven literally everyone]] was being cast in the film, and they were simply awaiting their own casting announcement.[[/labelnote]]

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* WinBackTheCrowd: For some members of a [[Franchise/StarWars certain franchise]]'s [[BrokenBase crowd]], ''Knives Out'' is seen as proof that Creator/RianJohnson'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. The linked articles also note that the RunningGag about Harlan's family constantly getting Marta's ethnicity wrong merely draws attention to the fact her ethnicity is never actually ''identified'', reinforcing the idea that all Hispanics are interchangeable.

** Fans of this film usually like ''Film/ReadyOrNot'' and vice versa, what with their ripping takedowns of the wealthy, smart and scrappy leading ladies, and {{big fancy house}}s.

** Fans of the American version of ''[[Series/TheOfficeUS The Office]]'' were quick to point out similarities with the episode "Murder," particularly Michael's hilariously bad Southern accent.

** The film heavily justifies Harlan’s actions. Throughout the movie, Harlan is shown as being very stubborn, and never going back when hid mind is made up, and to have a natural and strong flair for the dramatic. He also is shown to trust Marta’s expertise and judgment. So it makes sense that Harlan would immediately trust Marta’s claims that he’s been given a morphine overdose. And that he would then not only come up with an over-the-top plan, but refuse to deviate from it because of his stubbornness and regard for Marta. Also, Harlan’s state six minutes in would be overshadowed by Marta’s panicked, grief-stricken state of guilt. She believed she doomed her best friend to death in that moment.