10 Movie Characters Who Had To Die To Win

Last year’s clever murder mystery, courtesy of The Last Jedi helmer Rian Johnson, deconstructed the whodunnit by adding a meta-twist and a veneer of contemporary social commentary to proceedings. The victim at the centre of the story is crime author, Agatha Christie knock off, and patriarch of an uber-rich and uber-screwed up family Harlan Thrombey, played by Christopher Plummer.

In the opening scenes he’s offed in mysterious circumstances, but thanks to some insanely quick thinking the writer manages to reconfigure the method of his demise in order to clear the name of his kindly carer Marta—mind you, as clever as the manoeuvre is, it still requires him to slit his own throat.

Despite the messiness of his methods, Thrombey is eventually vindicated over the course of the film. The audience discovers that his grandson Ransom, the black sheep of the family, attempted to off his father and frame Marta for the crime.

It takes Harlan’s sacrifice to clear Marta’s name and prompt the investigation which uncovers Ransom’s plot, and though his death seems to have been for nought as he wasn’t actually poisoned, it’s clear his bloodthirsty offspring would stop at nothing to secure his fortune, meaning only death on his own terms would be certain to net Marta her fair share.