Knives Out Review: 9 Ups & 1 Down

Rian Johnson brilliantly toys with audience expectations (again).

By Jack Pooley /

Lionsgate

Rian Johnson's Knives Out may not be hitting general release until the end of November, but it had its UK premiere at the London Film Festival this week, and though there's still a few months of 2019 to go, Johnson has likely delivered one of the year's very best films.

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If some were left wary by his subversive approach to the Star Wars franchise with the controversial The Last Jedi, this crowd-pleasing murder-mystery is likely to go down far smoother across the board with audiences.

Above all else, it confirms Johnson's penchant for smartly constructed, stylish storytelling away from the demands of a blockbuster franchise, aided of course by one of the most impressively stacked casts of the entire year (or any year, really).

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Mercifully, you'll also be pleased to know that the marketing has been careful not to spoil most of the movie's intricate plot or any of its big surprises, though you'd be smart to avoid any future trailers in case Lionsgate gets a little twitchy...