Knives Out Review: 9 Ups & 1 Down

3. The Sharp Cinematography, Editing & Production Design

For a $40 million movie starring so many name actors, it's pretty amazing how great Knives Out looks.

First and foremost, cinematographer Steve Yedlin - who has lensed every single one of Johnson's five movies - embraces the fuzzy, welcoming aesthetic most murder-mystery stories are known for, making loving use of the sprawling Thrombey estate, which is itself a wonder of production design.

But in many respects the real MVP here is editor Bob Ducsay, another regular Johnson collab, who makes impressive coherence out of the film's jigsaw-like approach to its central enigma.

The result is a dizzying film that races by in a near-instant, despite clocking in at a fairly meaty 130 minutes.