We discuss the 10 Best Similar Movies like Knives Out you must watch. Fancy a mystery, then add these brilliant recommendations to your watch list.
The 2019 Agatha Christie-inspired slick and haphazardly polished mystery film Knives Out was written, directed, and co-produced by divisive Star Wars raconteur Rian Johnson. Columbo-esque super detective Benoit Blanc, played by Daniel Craig, trying to shake Bond off after playing the role for too long, becomes involved in a mystery surrounding the death of the head of a wealthy and dysfunctional family.
With an ensemble cast that includes Chris Evans, Christopher Plummer, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, and Jaeden Martell, the film was a surprise hit that has so far spawned one sequel, with another on the way, so if you enjoyed this puzzle box, we thought you might want to have a look at another 10 best movies that are similar to Knives Out.
10 Best Similar Movies like Knives Out
10. The Mirror Crack’d (1980)
This Agatha Christie masterpiece was given the big screen treatment, and this adaptation of her classic novel has a stellar cast, just like Knives Out.
In probably the best piece of casting ever, Angela Lansbury plays the amateur sleuth, Miss Marple. Lansbury would bring the character to life, making her more sprightly than Christie’s version, and she is our guide through the story of a poisoned local woman and the visiting movie star who may have been the intended victim. Look for Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Kim Novak, and Elizabeth Taylor in the cast that centers around a film being made in the sleepy town of St Mary Mead and see if you can solve the mystery before Miss Marple.
9. Crooked House (2017)
A former diplomat Charles Hayward returns from Cairo to London to become a private detective in this Agatha Christie classic.
When a wealthy but disliked businessman Aristide Leonides, is found dead, Detective Hayward is invited to get to the bottom of his death, but the mains suspect seems to be Leonides own grand-daughter, As the investigation deepens, he must confront the shocking realization that one of the key suspects is Aristede’s beautiful granddaughter. A murdered head of the family, a dysfunctional family, and a poisoning are only the start of the similarities to Knives Out.
8. Death Trap (1982)
This is an acting tour de force from the silver screens’ most loved Superman, Christopher Reeve, and British Hollywood will-act-in-anything icon Michael Caine. Based on a stage play and written by Rosemary’s Baby novelist Ira Levin, Death Trap is the story of a student that has written the perfect whodunit and a treacherous mentor that wants to steal the work for himself. This is a twisted psychological thriller with more twists than a Bill Haley tribute concert and a third act over the top finale that will make your head spin.
7. Murder On The Orient Express (1974)
If you are of a certain age, you may remember the 1970s adaptations of Agatha Christie’s novels. They pretty much always had a fantastic ensemble cast. and followed the plot of the murder mystery as closely as they could.
This entry is one of the most well-loved. Starring, among others, Sean Connery, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Albert Finney, Anthony Perkins, and John Gielgud, this adaptation follows murder on the iconic train, and, just like in Knives Out, everyone has a motive. Stunning and beautifully filmed, this is another benchmark for the genre and is often imitated,
6. Clue (1985)
The unique premise of this particular murder mystery is the fact that this is basically a film version of the popular board game Cluedo, or Clue, depending on where you live. An all-star cast brings the parts of Mrs. Peacock, Miss Scarlet, Mr. Green, and all the other board game suspects to life, and the comedic aspect of the film is turned up to eleven, making this more of a comedy than a murder mystery.
Still, the basic idea has a lot in common with Knives Out, and it is said that there were multiple endings filmed, and depending on where you watched the film on its release, it would decide what ending you got to see. The film did not do well on its release, but slowly it has grown to amass a cult following, and Tim Curry as the butler Wadsworth, is worth the price of admission.
5. Gosford Park (2001)
Directed by Robert Altman, this is another group of characters assembled together before a murder sets the plot in motion. Set in the 1930s, the characters are all rich and wealthy, meeting at a hunting lodge for the weekend, but when Sir William McCordle, played by Sir Michael Gambon, is murdered, there is no shortage of suspects. everyone from his own family to the downstairs staff is on the list, but who was most desperate to commit the crime? Altman’s attention to the period setting and the acting talent on the screen make this unmissable if you enjoyed Knives Out.
4. The Last of Shelia (1973)
Perhaps a bit of a cheat here, but still making our list, this 70’s mystery has been cited by Rian Johnson as an inspiration for Knives Out sequel Glass Onion. However, if you ask me, he has been influenced by this film even before then. Exactly a year after the death of Shelia, her husband invites a group of friends to his yacht, where they have to play a sinister game. However, this is a more dangerous game than they could imagine, and the stakes are way too high.
3. Murder by Death (1976)
Just like Knives Out, this bizarre drawing room murder mystery has a vintage all-star cast and features not one but five incredible detectives, all trying to out-detect each other.
This silly and frivolous comedy caper starred Peter Falk, Peter Sellers, and Alec Guinness, amongst others, as archetypal film flat feet summoned to the manor of the eccentric Lionel Twain, who announces that someone at the dining table will soon be dead, and the assembled cast have to figure out who the murderer is. The star-studded cast feels a little underused, but the fun is all in the camp silliness of the situation, and I have no doubt Rian Johnson has watched this.
2. And then There Were None (1945)
This classic Agatha Christie story has been filmed many times, with various titles, but the 1945 version manages to capture the tone of the very British novelist’s work. Seven guests and a couple of staff members are isolated on a stormy island and are dispatched one at a time by an unknown murderer. the very epitome of a whodunit, this almost acts as a blueprint for every other entry in the genre, including Knives Out, complete with a detective with an outrageous accent.
1. A Shot in the Dark (1964)
The tenuous link of comedy and mystery allows me to put this on the list, although I admit it is only really here as I so enjoy this movie. Peter Sellers is magnificent as Inspector Clouseau in this comedy classic, launching a bit of a franchise that would eventually be remade with Steve Martin. The murder of a chauffeur at a stately home is the peg the film hangs its coat on, but it really is the performances and set pieces that the film is known for. A perfect big-screen comedy from a lost age of film.
Do you have any other recommendations for Best Similar Movies like Knives Out? Let us know!
