Now, if you're among the people who watched and loved the film and are looking for something similar – especially if you're not too familiar with the genre – hopefully this list will help you. Even if you've seen most of those, 'Knives Out' may remind you that they may need a re-watch to enjoy it all again. Murder on the Orient Express movie’s story have also an emotional aspect. Like Knives Out movie, Murder on the Orient Express is full of twist and turns. Its second part Murder on the Nile also announced and schedule to release on Sept. If you like Knives Out movie, you will definitely like Murder on the Orient Express.
‘Knives Out’ is a mystery-comedy movie that presents a contemporary take on the whodunit genre. It is inspired by the works of Agatha Christie and has been warmly received for its intricate plot, engaging characters played by talented actors and amusing satire of a popular genre.
The movie follows a family whose members gather for a reunion cum birthday party of the family’s patriarch, the wealthy novelist, Harlan Thombrey. The next morning, when Thombrey is mysteriously found dead, the family members become top suspects in a murder investigation headed by a private investigator, Benoit Blanc. The character of Benoit Blanc played to perfection by Daniel Craig, has been inspired by Christie’s fictional detective, Hercule Poirot.
It was writer, director, and producer, Rian Johnson’s love for Agatha Christie that urged him to develop this project. Johnson is known for directing the 2017 Star Wars movie, ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi.’
Apart from Daniel Craig, this movie stars a bunch of exceptional A-listers including Chris Evans,Jamie Lee Curtis, Ana de Armas,Don Johnson, and Michael Shannon. The movie has been dubbed as a near-perfect murder mystery and is genuinely entertaining despite the outdated genre that it tries to satirize. Such a feat is rare due to the fact that both, mystery and satire are overcrowded genres and resultantly, have an extremely high bar for quality. If you enjoy whodunits and need more movies from that category that employs a lighthearted, satirical approach, you should definitely watch the following seven films. Many of them are available for streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu.
‘Black Dynamite’ is one laugh-out-loud flick that you should see at all costs. To begin with, it features an African-American protagonist performing skilled martial arts stunts in a comic manner that is similar to the humor of Jackie Chan’s comedy movies. Moreover, it is a quality parody of the blaxploitation genre, a kind of movie that glorifies the African-American subculture and often romanticizes the ghetto.
The movie follows a former CIA agent, Black Dynamite who is skilled in martial arts. After Black Dynamite’s brother is murdered by a shady drug-dealing organization, he decides to clean the streets and wipe out a new drug from the market himself. It is scripted by and stars Michael Jai White as the titular protagonist.
‘The Nice Guys’ is a neo-noir black comedy movie that stars Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe in leading roles. Apart from a suspenseful subplot, the movie mainly serves as a parody of the buddy cop genre. It follows a couple of private detectives, Healy and March.
While investigating the case of a pornographic actress who reportedly committed suicide, the detective duo discovers a conspiracy of epic proportions. The movie was lauded by critics with particular praise going towards the chemistry between Gosling and Crowe. In fact, Gosling was even compared to Nicholas Cage for his role.
‘Manhattan Murder Mystery’ is a comedy-mystery movie that is directed by the veteran filmmaker, Woody Allen. He developed the idea for this 1993 movie from an early draft of his 1997 romcom, ‘Annie Hall’ that was not satisfactory. It follows a married couple, Larry and Carol Lipton living in Manhattan whose neighbor’s wife dies mysteriously.
Carol decides to investigate the murder without the support of his husband. However, when her friend starts to help her, Larry gets jealous and joins Carol in the investigation. Woody Allen acted in ‘Manhattan Murder Mystery’ as well, playing the character of Larry Lipton. Diane Keaton, who was Allen’s ex at the time played the role of Carol Lipton. The movie was praised for the lead actors’ impeccable chemistry and performance apart from its gentle, escapist tone.
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‘Game Night’ is an American mystery black comedy that was released last year. It satirizes the serious tone of mystery movies in its poster itself, thanks to the words, “this is not a game.” The movie follows a group of friends who participate in a couples’ game night every week. Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams lead the cast as Max and Annie, a couple.
When Max’s brother hosts a murder mystery, the stakes get invariably raised when he gets kidnapped. As Max, Annie and their competitive couple-friends set out to solve the mystery and rescue Brooks, they discover something unknown about Brooks and the game. The movie received praise for its tight plotting that delivered genuinely shocking twists and turns and its ability to land silly humor at the same time.
A homage to neo-noir movies, ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’ is a black comedy crime film that premiered in 2005. It is partially based on the novel, ‘Bodies Are Where You Find Them’ by Brett Halliday. It follows a thief who masquerades as an actor and becomes friends with a private investigator. However, his friendship leads to him getting sucked into a murder investigation in Hollywood that also draws in a struggling actress.
The movie received widespread critical acclaim and was noted for its decently sketched out characters and entertaining plot. Robert Downey Jr.’s performance was even dubbed as one of his most enjoyable ones.
This 1976 comedy mystery is a parody of the whodunit genre and includes multiple references to popular mystery and whodunit stories. It follows five world-class detectives who are invited to a wealthy but mysterious man to play a murder mystery game with a $1 million reward for the winner. However, when the millionaire’s butler dies unexpectedly before the game can commence, the detectives and their associates are pushed into solving an actual mystery and face life-threatening danger while doing so.
The five detectives portrayed are satirical caricatures of famous, fictional detectives- providing an acclaimed allusion to the genre that the movie is a parody of. For instance, Milo Perrier and Jessica Marbles are caricatures of Agatha Christie’s characters, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple respectively. The movie was praised by critics for its smooth screenplay, background music, performances by its ensemble cast and hilariously re-watchable humor.
‘Murder by Death’ stars Peter Sellers as Inspector Sidney Wang (a caricature of Earl Derr Biggers’ Chinese detective, Charlie Chan), Maggie Smith as Dora Charleston and Truman Capote as the multi-millionaire, Lionel Twain. Best password manager for mac. “By the time the world’s greatest detectives figure out whodunnit,” the movie’s poster warns, “…you could die laughing!”
If you love the pairing of comedy and mystery, you should have surely heard of Inspector Jacques Clouseau- the incompetent, absent-minded and chaotic police detective with a pronounced French accent. If not, the ‘Pink Panther’ film series is one franchise that you should get to bingeing right away.
The beloved character first appeared in the 1963 movie, ‘The Pink Panther’ in a supporting role. However, Peter Sellers’ rib-tickling performance in ‘The Pink Panther’ spurred a series of films and television series, starting with ‘A Shot in the Dark’ that focused on Jacques Clouseau. The 1964 film follows the detective as he is sent to investigate a murder whose biggest suspect is a woman named Maria Gambrelli. However, after Clouseau lets Maria free, thinking that she is innocent due to her beauty, several other people get murdered with Maria being the prime suspect in each case.
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We get Agatha Christie adaptations more often than you think; Kenneth Branagh recently took on “Murder on the Orient Express,” which was unfortunately not good. Despite the all-star cast, it lacked something. Same goes for “Crooked House,” an adaptation nobody watched. The audiences may love the “whodunit?” formula, but they are seemingly tired of uninspired adaptations. So, Rian Johnson came up with something fresh: “Knives Out” was a surprise critical and box office success with an all-star cast led by Ana De Armas and Daniel Craig with wonderful supporting turns all around.
It had an amazing balance; it didn’t mind mocking some clichés of the genre, but it didn’t treat its mystery as a joke, it was a compelling story with a lot of wit. Now, if you’re among the people who watched and loved the film and are looking for something similar – especially if you’re not too familiar with the genre – hopefully this list will help you. Even if you’ve seen most of those, “Knives Out” may remind you that they may need a re-watch to enjoy it all again.
10. The Mirror Crack’d (1980)
This, or basically any Agatha Christie movie adaptation. But “The Mirror Crack’d” and “Murder on the Orient Express” are seemingly particular influences on “Knives Out.” At least Rian Johnson claims so. Since “Orient Express” is already quite popular, it’s better to give “Mirror Crack’d” a place here. And while the film’s star Michael Shannon is not too familiar with Christie, this was the one he remembers most from his childhood.
The film is based on Christie’s “The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side” and is set in the fictional English village of St. Mary Mead and features Miss Marple, one of Christie’s best known characters. Here in the film, a local woman is poisoned and a visiting movie star seems to have been the intended victim. Since the police officer investigating the case isn’t so sure of what’s going on, he finally asks his aunt Miss Marple to investigate the case.
“Mirror Crack’d” is not often mentioned alongside “Murder on the Orient Express” and “And Then There Were None,” which are admittedly superior film adaptations, but it’s now somewhat of a camp classic that is worth watching not only for its fun whodunit storyline but also for Angela Lansbury’s excellent performance. The movie remains as a very fine adaptation; the pace is fine, dialogues are witty, and the story itself is engaging.
9. Radioland Murders (1994)
One may wonder what happened to Mary Stuart Masterson’s career. She was getting great parts back to back in “Immediate Family,” “Fried Green Tomatoes,” “At Close Range,” “Benny and Joon” and “Some Kind of Wonderful.” Nowadays she randomly appears in thankless roles in network shows or indie films. “Radioland Murders” is one of her last high-profile films that unfortunately flopped at the box office and didn’t get enough love from critics, but they were a little too harsh to it. “Radioland Murders” is a decent homage to 1930’s screwball comedies.
Produced by George Lucas, “Radioland Murders” follows writer Roger Henderson’s efforts to settle his relationship issues with his wife while dealing with a murder mystery in a radio station. Sure, some of the elements are overused, but it’s still funny and full of colorful characters and great lines. It may not be something big and spectacular, which is why it doesn’t often get enough credit among the best of the genre, but that’s the point – it’s small, lovely film that fans of the genre should check out. To get a better sense and idea of the film, you may like to check out some of the 1940’s mystery-comedies like “Up in the Air” and “Who Done It?”, which are also set in radio stations. Photo recovery guru for mac.
8. 8 Women (2002)
Francois Ozon’s crazy entertaining “8 Women” is a modern-day French film classic and it has basically everything: it’s a murder-mystery, it’s a comedy, it’s a musical, it’s a drama, it’s full of social and political tones with some nostalgia elements here and there. The art direction is spectacular, as is the setting. The cast of eight women, which includes Isabelle Huppert and Catherine Deneuve, are all amazing. The film follows them as they gather to celebrate Christmas in a cottage, only to find the family patriarch died with a knife in his back. Now they all are suspects and they all have their secrets.
Just like the film above, this one is also a homage to the 1930’s and 1950’s screwball comedies with so many rich themes. “Knives Out” got a lot of praise for its social and political undertones, but one can argue that “8 Women” is richer with its themes. Since the movie is based on Robert Thomas’ “Huit Femmes,” it creates the theatrical feeling of the play but at the same time, Ozon still manages to bring cinematic sensibility into it as he also pays homage to the history of film and some of the actresses’ filmography. Even though it was a major success in France, it seems the movie is not that popular everywhere. For instance, it doesn’t get much mention in American cinephile circles, but “8 Women” is a delicious experience that deserves even more popularity.
7. Brick (2005)
Rian Johnson is a versatile director, but he explored the mystery genre before in “Brick,” which was hailed as one of the most original and best films of its year. The film follows lonely teenager Brendan, portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who finds his former girlfriend Emily dead and, in investigating the murder, he finds his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring.
This is an unusual film. It’s a cynical, hard-boiled thriller, but it also excellently staged a daring experience that by no means appeals to everyone. But if you get engaged in the storyline, you’ll be rewarded with one of the most original and entertaining films of its year. Since the movie is set in high school it may make you bit skeptical, but the movie actually benefits from that fact as it makes the story go to unpredictable places. One can say “Brick” is among the best teen-focused mystery films, but it also has one of the best young casts of its time and Gordon-Levitt absolutely shines in the leading role. Johnson’s other mystery effort “The Brothers Bloom” may also get a mention here as that one is comedic but still, “Brick” is a stronger effort.
6. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
A homage to neo-noir films, “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” is an ideal choice if you love a good modern noir with comedy. The script is partially based on the Brett Halliday novel “Bodies Are Where You Find,” and it’s an excellent mix of humor with whodunit, a compelling and kind of complex mystery. Writer/director Shane Black went for a tongue-in-cheek tone and it worked out great. Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer are hysterical together and make for tons of quotable scenes. Downey Jr. still counts it as one of his own personal favorites and it was also his ticket to his “Iron Man” role.
The movie has a pretty original premise; Downey is a burglar, but things go wrong; his friends are getting shot. Downey suddenly finds himself in an audition while trying to escape from police, but he unintentionally impresses the people there. They take him to L.A. for a role of private investigator and they pair him with real life detective Val Kilmer to research the role, but he finds himself in a web of mystery and murder. The movie has its own fan base, but one feels like it still not has been watched by enough people, so it deserves more popularity. Meanwhile, if you love this, also check out another similar Shane Black movie called “The Nice Guys” (2016).