The “whodunit” style of mystery story has experienced a renaissance over the recent years with updated versions of the classic Agatha Christie stories like Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile having reasonable success with audiences. More thriller-style mysteries like Gone Girl and Where the Crawdads Sing have been adapted from popular novels and experienced similar success. Even original screenplays like See How They Run and Amsterdam have joined this party. Mystery is back, and perhaps the most-celebrated examples comes from director Rian Johnson and his two Knives Out films featuring Kentucky-Fried detective Benoit Blanc. With the second film available on Netflix as of December 23rd, this feels like the perfect time to look back at these two films and see what elements have resonated so well with audiences.
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Plot and Theme 