Rian Johnson's Knives Out franchise has been wildly successful so far, and the threequel Wake Up Dead Man recently arrived on streaming for those with a Netflix subscription. CinemaBlend's Wake Up Dead Man review praised it as the strongest in the series, including its many twists and turns. The filmmaker recently explained how he decides who the killer is, and also offers some criticism of Agatha Christie's books.
While not a book to screen adaptation, Agatha Christie's influence is definitely felt throughout all three Knives Out movies. During an interview with EW, he was asked how early into the writing process each movie's killer is decided upon. The Looper director responded with:
Yeah, it's a very early decision, and it's very important why it's an early decision. It's one of the guiding principles for me in writing all of these movies: I try to constantly remind myself that first and foremost, these have to be movies, and that means they have to be propulsive. They have to be a rollercoaster ride. They can't just be a puzzle that I'm presenting to the audience.
How interesting is that? While the Knives Out movies keep fans on their toes thanks to the whodunnit mystery, even hearing the filmmaker's process is fascinating. Although Johnson can't write the Knives Out movies in advance, there does seem to be a specific way each new movie is crafted... including deciding which character is the killer.
Rather than simply trying to create an interesting puzzle for moviegoers, Johnson seems determined that the killer of each movie is character-driven. As he went on:
They need to be emotionally involving, and they need to have a story arc. And you can't mistake the reveal of information for a dramatic turn. So that means that for them to have a satisfying ending, the notion of who'd done it is not just, ‘Oh my God, it was that person!’
The director/wrier is no stranger to twists, as well as anticipating audience reaction. This is why The Last Jedi was such a subversive masterpiece; he has an understanding of what folks expect. But rather than making a twist just for the sake of it, he's ensuring the killer in each Knives Out movie makes narrative sense.
In the same interview, Rian Johnson actually took aim at the legendary Agatha Christie. He recalled how easy it can be to predict the bad guy in those legendary whodunnit novels, as he put it:
It has to be something where, when that reveal happens, and when the aftermath of that reveal happens — which is the real climax — it's been baked in from the beginning of why that emotional impact lands. Personally, I think this is the case with the best of Agatha Christie's books. I think you can generally guess who did the crime, not because it's the least likely person, but because if you stop before the final chapter and ask yourself, ‘Who would it be most dramatically satisfying for the killer to be’, nine times out of 10, that'll be the answer because she's a good writer.
Clearly Rian Johnson is a fan of the genre, both on the page and the screen. That's why he's been able to predict the killers of Christie's books; they're consistent in the way they're surprising. He's trying to avoid that trap in the Knives Out films, including Wake Up Dead Man.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is streaming now on Netflix as part of the 2025 movie release list. We'll just have to wait and see what Johnson has up his sleeve if/when a fourth movie is produced.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
