Knives Out, an old-fashioned whodunit with a modern twist is a "Thanksgiving movie," star Daniel Craig says of director/writer Rian Johnson's film. But more than the fact the film literally dropped the day before Thanksgiving, the tale of a wealthy patriarch (Christopher Plummer) who dies mysteriously leaving his mostly greedy offspring to argue over the estate, is also rife for discussion around the dinner table in that it tackles issues of social class, race, wealth disparity, privilege, and immigration.
"This was a script that rang all my bells, I mean, anybody that's read it. It's funny, it's witty, it's got a message threading through it," Craig tells The Advocate about why he was excited to sign on the film as the world-weary Detective Benoit Blanc, who's tasked with unraveling the mystery of who killed Plummer's Harlan Thrombey.
"I've been an actress for 42 years. Very rarely does something come across my desk that has this kind of depth and layers," Jamie Lee Curtis, who plays Harlan's daughter Linda, says.
While the film is loaded with the twists and turns standard in a murder mystery, Knives Out also does a deep dive into immigration and class issues in which the white wealthy family members consider themselves evolved for referring to Harlan's nurse Marta (Ana de Armas) as one of the family while also conflating her home country with several Latin American countries.
"More than anything, it proves you can do both," Curtis says of incorporating something topical into a wildly fun and entertaining flick. "You don't have to bury social commitment into an indie 'social commitment film.' You can actually blend themes all throughout something as entertaining as this movie. And it does it so beautifully."
"And laugh at these people for their appalling behavior," Craig says. "Laugh, and for it still to hit home. And it does."
"[It's]Something to talk about over Thanksgiving at the table," he adds.
Knives Out costars Toni Collete, Chris Evans, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, and Jaeden Martell. It's out in theaters on Nov. 27.
Watch the Advocate's interview with Craig and Curtis below.
