Whatever appreciation they claim to have for her at the onset is proven to be only skin-deep once their (unearned) financial stability is in jeopardy. Over the course of the ordeal, white characters can’t agree on whether her family is from Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay or Brazil. The Thrombeys speak of Latin American countries as interchangeable, flaunting their disregard for Marta’s actual heritage. “You with the help?” hears Marta upon arriving at the scene after not being invited to the funeral, an early indicator of how the elite rationalize her presence in such an opulent setting. Johnson lines the crevices of his explosively engaging ride with relevant political commentary while still earning loud cackles from the audience. For every duplicitous revelation the airtight plot carves out, an even more jaw-dropping, yet plausible, turn comes to light. Meanwhile, cartoonish detective Benoit Blanc (an against-type Daniel Craig) interrogates Harlan’s adult children and their spouses (including Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon and Toni Collette) inside an ornate home, trying to piece together a dubious version of the events. Since her body is physically incapable of deceit - she vomits whenever attempting to lie - silence is key. Marta treasures her job and was endeared to her elderly employer, but must now tiptoe around with the knowledge she possesses. Surrounded by a pack of entitled vultures, demure caregiver Marta Cabrera (Cuban-born actress Ana de Armas) quietly monitors the winding investigation deployed as consequence of mystery author Harlan Thrombey’s death (played by veteran thespian Christopher Plummer). Though earnest in its full embrace of whodunit tropes and unabashed tonal excesses, the hilarious ensemble piece capitalizes on its many qualities that will garner mass appeal - among them an enviable cast - to take a decisive stance on the ongoing immigration debate in the United States. A wealthy white man’s demise thrusts an upstanding Latina nurse into a spectacularly written crucible in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out.
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