Over the years murder and thriller have been an interesting and most favored genre of all time. But after numerous scripts with the same storyline, comedy murder is a genre to be explored. Rian Johnson’s ‘Knives Out‘ is a popular mystery film that was inspired by many similar movies that fans should watch.
The film’s original and refreshing script hits the audience at the right spot with its humor. Though it serves as a classic murder mystery leading an investigation of the murder of the family patriarch but with a comedy twist. Here’s a list of the top 10 movies to watch if you liked ‘Knives Out’.
Related: ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’ Ending Explained: Who Is The Killer?
1. Murder On The Orient Express (2017)
Agatha Christie has always been a huge influence in the making of murder mysteries. And similarly, it also has a direct and obvious impact on Rian Johnson’s ‘Knives Out’. ‘Murder on the Orient Express‘ directed by Kenneth Branagh is adapted from the novel written by Agatha Christe.
Kenneth Branagh immortalized the role of Hercule Poirot – the detective in Agatha Christe’s novels. The film consists of an all-star cast from Johnny Depp to Judi Dench along with Penelope Cruz. Poirot investigates the murder of an aristocratic passenger on the luxury train named Orient Express. Branagh’s performance as Poirot and stirring mystery create an entertaining experience.
2. The Brothers Bloom (2008)
‘Knives Out‘ and its sequel marked the return of Rian Johnsons into the genre of a murder mystery. The ‘Star Wars: Last Jedi‘ director’s second feature film was ‘The Brothers Bloom‘ starring Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody. Despite the star cast, the reviews were not much in favor of Johnson.
The story follows the life of brothers on the way to pull off the last con of their lives. Johnson included all the storytelling aspects of the genre. The final twist of this film makes it different from every other film of a similar genre. His main influence for the story was ‘Paper Moon‘ and the visual style was ‘8 1/2‘ and ‘The Conformist‘.
3. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
As ‘Knives Out‘ interestingly plays with its cliches genre, similarly Shane Black’s ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang‘ follows a similar subplot of murder mystery avoiding the reoccurring storyline. It falls under the category of a neo-noir black comedy film, partially based on Brett Halliday’s novel ‘Bodies Where You Find Them‘.
The film stars Robert Downey Jr and Val Kilmer who finds themselves in a complex situation – investigating the death of a young woman. As the movie unravels it gives the audience a good laugh along with complicated mystery and an iconic “buddy duo”. The film was named the most overlooked film of the year by the 2005 Pheonix Film Critics Society.
4. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)
The fans who enjoyed Daniel Craig’s character of Benoit Blac in the ‘Knives Out‘ series will definitely love his role as a journalist in the remake of ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo‘. Other than the James Bond star leading both films, ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ also has another connection to ‘Knives Out’. Christopher Plummer reprises his role as the patriarch of the family in both films.
‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo‘ has a much darker element when compared with ‘Knives Out‘. It revolves around the investigation of a journalist on a girl who disappeared decades ago with a help of a computer hacker.
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5. Sherlock Holmes (2009)
With the successful release of the ‘Knives Out‘ sequel, Benoit Blac has made it to the list of the greatest fictional detectives of all time along with Hercule Poirot. But the most iconic character detective should be Sherlock Holmes. While there had been many adaptions of Sherlock Holmes, no one can compete with the portrayal by Robert Downey Jr.
The movie adds a contemporary twist and a fun period action movie with mystery elements combined in one pot. The highlight of the movie is the exemplary duo of Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson.
6. Game Night (2018)
A fun game turned into a murder mystery. The film stars Rachel McAdams and Jason Bateman, a couple who host a game night with their friends which eventually turns out to be a real murder mystery. Just like in ‘Knives Out‘, the movie escalates into a hilarious story as the couple finds themselves in a deeper mess.
There might be a possible sequel to this murder mystery game night. Jeffrey Wright makes an uncredited cameo as Agent Ron Henderson, an FBI Agent.
7. Mystery Teams (2009)
Just like ‘Knives Out‘ which clearly was influenced by Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, ‘Mystery Team‘ directed by Dan Eckman is loosely based on the cult classic ‘Hardy Boys‘. Unlike the books, the movie adds an r-rated twist to the movie. It stars Dominic Dierkes, Donald Grover, and Dc Pierson.
The movie follows a group of three friends who grew up with an obsession with solving neighborhood crimes. But when these young men are hired to solve a murder things don’t go as planned. The movie offers hilarious and dark comedy content. All three characters of the ‘Mystery Team’ are given equal time segments to shine.
Read More: ‘Knives Out’ Ending Explained: Who’s The Real Killer In Daniel Craig’s Mystery-Thriller Film?
8. The Nice Guys (2016)
Another film that is similar to ‘Knives Out’ is Shane Black’s comedy murder mystery ‘The Nice Guy‘. Shane Black manages to add a unique twist to his movies making them interesting. The dark comedy movie stars Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as the lead.
‘The Nice Guy’ opens with Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe playing the role of low-life private detectives who team up to solve the case of a missing person. The movie makes its return to the traditional category of “bromance”. Shane Black’s action sequences in the movie are cleverly staged, with a slight touch of comic delivery at times, but without being over-the-top
9. Sleuth (1972)
‘Sleuth‘ is one much specific movie that inspired Rian Johson to create ‘Knives Out’. Through ‘Knives Out‘ makes an obvious reference to other movies, but this movie in particular had a huge impact. The remote setting and the setup of the huge mansion are directly picked up from the 1972 ‘Sleuth’.
The film stars Laurence Olivier as a famous detective novel author who invites his wife’s lover to his mansion. Where the two men then engage in a lethal game of cat-and-mouse. The 2007 remake of the film did not use any dialogue from the original script and it did not serve justice to the original film.
10. Death On The Nile (2022)
This movie definitely should be added to the list of murder mysteries. Hercule Poirot’s Egypt vacation takes a huge turn. Benoit Blac really tries to match the caliber of Hercule Poriot, meanwhile, ‘The Death On the Nile‘ is another exciting Hercule Poirot adaption on the big screen. But instead of a train set-up, this murder takes place over the waters.
The stillness of a cruise along the Nile is ravaged by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway, a newlywed heiress has been shot through the head. She was young, stylish, and exquisite, and had everything until she lost her life. This is just the beginning of Agatha Christie’s universe.
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