“Knives Out” Prediction: How Will Each Character of This Star-Studded Cast Fare?
Knives Out is garnering the kind of praise that most end-of-year releases can only dream of. Early screenings of the film have left critics calling it “ingenious,” “well-written,” “clever,” and “flat-out-awesome.” With its all-star cast and 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s well on its way to making a killing at the box office.
But who, if anyone, is going to survive this hyped-up whodunit?
We analyzed the previous roles of the Knives Out cast members to determine the likelihood of each major player’s survival. The number of knives next to each actor’s name shows where on the survival scale he or she falls. The more knives that actor has, the more likely it is that he or she will still be alive by the time the credits roll.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for the some of the films the cast members of Knives Out have appeared in. Proceed with caution.
CHRIS EVANS: 🔪 🔪 🔪 🔪 🔪
This one almost goes without saying. Captain America is the most likely candidate to come out of this razor-sharp thriller unscathed. Anyone who can stand up to Thanos all day, win the ultimate battle of good vs. evil, and reunite with his true love by traveling back in time clearly has an advantage over the rest of the suspects.
If that’s not enough to convince you, Evans has also played another character in the Marvel universe: the Human Torch in both Fantastic Four and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. With over 13 superhero films under his belt, it’s almost guaranteed that he’ll survive this flick as well.
KATHERINE LANGFORD: 🔪
Unfortunately, things don’t seem to bode as well for Katherine Langford. She is perhaps best known for playing Hannah Baker in Season One of Thirteen Reasons Why — a season that found Hannah tragically taking her own life. Langford’s popularity skyrocketed after the show’s release, and she was quickly cast as best friend Leah in the teen dramedy Love, Simon.
These breakout performances certainly speak to Langford’s talent, but since she’s still a new face in cinema, they don’t inspire much confidence that she’ll survive a killer on the loose. Her one scene in Avengers: Endgame didn’t even survive the cutting room floor. Then again, her upcoming role as a sorceress in Cursed could hint that Langford has some tricks up her sleeve — and judging from the trailers we’ve seen for Knives Out, she’s going to need them.
DANIEL CRAIG: 🔪🔪🔪🔪
Craig. Daniel Craig. He’s been the world’s most famous super spy for the last 13 years and is about to make his fifth appearance as James Bond in the upcoming No Time to Die. Like his co-star Chris Evans, Craig has dodged his fair share of bullets and lived to tell the tale. The notion of him dying at the hands of a crazed killer just doesn’t exist.
Craig has rounded out his career with adventure films like Cowboys and Aliens and The Golden Compass as well as thrillers like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It’s no surprise that he’s playing an investigator in Knives Out — and given his survival rate in these blockbusters, we don’t think any of the suspects will get the jump on him.
ANA DE ARMAS: 🔪🔪
If Ana de Armas looks familiar to you, it’s likely because you’ve been watching her star rise in recent years without even realizing it. She appeared opposite Edgar Ramirez in Hands of Stone and Miles Teller in War Dogs. She bonded with Ryan Gosling in Blade Runner 2049 and even made an uncredited appearance in the romantic comedy Yesterday.
She may be a fresh presence on screen, but what do we really know about Ana de Armas? Not much, other than that she’ll be appearing as a new Bond girl in No Time to Die opposite Daniel Craig. She is largely shrouded in mystery, at least compared to her more recognizable costars. Her lack of mega star power could very well make her an easy target for the killer — if she’s not the killer herself.
LAKEITH STANFIELD: 🔪🔪🔪
Lakeith Stanfield gave us all of the chills when his character told Daniel Kaluuya to “Get out of here!” in the heart-pounding thriller Get Out. He then went on to show us his prowess with a sniper rifle in The Girl in the Spider’s Web and flair for voice manipulation in Sorry to Bother You.
Let’s be real here — the man’s got skills. He may not have been able to get himself out a few sticky situations, but assuming he won’t fall victim to an elaborate hypnosis plot in this film, he has a box of interesting tools he can pull from should any imminent threats present themselves. The fact that he’s playing a police detective in this film works in his favor, but then again, killers tend to not play fair with the police. Stanfield’s going to have to keep all of his wits about him if he wants to stay alive and solve the crime, but we don’t predict he’s in the most danger here.
TONI COLLETTE: 🔪🔪🔪
If you want to know the real wild card in this film, look no further than Toni Collette. This powerhouse actress has done it all, from bone-chilling suspense in The Sixth Sense to offbeat comedy in Little Miss Sunshine. She even played a woman playing a drag queen in Connie and Carla. She’s a true chameleon, which means her fate in this contemporary thriller is as big of a mystery as the killer’s identity.
Collette is also no stranger to the horror or mystery genres. She’s battled demonic beings in Krampus and Fright Night and faced off against her own mental state in United States of Tara. She’s survived a lot over the course of her colorful career, so she should be a shoe-in to survive Knives Out. Then again, since she’s played so many diverse characters, we can’t be too certain which way the knife will fall with her role in this film.
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER: 🔪
We know from the Knives Out trailer that Christopher Plummer’s character is the first to die, sparking the investigation that aims to identify who murdered him. Based on this information, he should probably have zero knives next to his name. However, we know better than to make that determination before seeing his character actually die on screen.
Mr. Plummer is best known for playing the intimidating Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music along with other hard-shelled characters like Ebenezer Scrooge and Van Helsing. It would be easy to paint him as “the old guy,” thus underestimating his survival potential. But Plummer pulled out an Oscar win at age 82 for his work in Beginners and earned his third nomination after replacing Kevin Spacey in All the Money in the World, filming all of his scenes in just nine days. This guy is crafty, creative, and quicker than his age implies. We can’t count him out just yet.
JAMIE LEE CURTIS: 🔪🔪🔪🔪
This film got a whole lot fiercer when Jamie Lee Curtis appeared in the trailer, and not just because of her shock of white hair. Millennials know her best from her iconic roles as Lindsay Lohan’s mom in Freaky Friday and Mrs. Krank in Christmas with the Kranks. These films might lead one to think she’d be an easy target, but those family comedies hardly tell her full story.
As famed survivor Laurie Strode, Curtis has outsmarted and outlasted the infamous serial killer Michael Meyers since 1978 in the Halloween franchise. That’s five films spent running from the knife-wielding psychopath, not to mention two upcoming sequels, which hint that Laurie will live at least until Halloween Ends in 2021. Curtis has survived a murderous killer and a freaky day spent in the body of her teenage child. We’re pretty sure she can make it to the end of this one alive, too.
MICHAEL SHANNON: 🔪
Michael Shannon is one of the strangest and most versatile actors working today. He’s also portrayed a plethora of bad guys, including General Zod in Man of Steel, Rick Carver in 99 Homes, and Richard Strickland in The Shape of Water. His career-defining turn in Revolutionary Road was enough to tell us that Shannon is particularly skilled at playing “unhinged.”
Due to his penchant for the dark side, things tend to not end well for him. Shannon has either died or been defeated by the good guys exponentially more than his male costars. We predict this means he will quickly meet his maker in Knives Out. If he doesn’t, then the likelihood of him being the killer jumps to a lethal five knives out of five.
DON JOHNSON: 🔪🔪🔪
Look out, people — Don Johnson’s in the house. Long before he made an appearance in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Johnson starred as Detective Sonny Crockett on Miami Vice and later went on to play the title cop on Nash Bridges. Translation: the guy knows his way around guns and crime scenes, which certainly gives him a leg up on this film’s survival competition.
He might be one of the older actors in the cast, but we’ll let the upcoming Nash Bridges reboot serve as a reminder that old doesn’t mean dead. Don’t let his recent romantic turn in Book Club fool you, either — Don Johnson is one tough cookie, with years of experience solving crimes and bringing down the bad guys. He’s (probably) going to make it out of this murder mystery relatively unscathed.
JAEDEN MARTELL: 🔪🔪🔪🔪
Look, this dude battled Pennywise — the freakiest psycho clown of all time — and lived! He might not be old enough to see his own movies yet, but Jaeden Martell clearly has some major survival potential. With the exception of his work in It and It: Chapter Two, Jaeden hasn’t been around long enough to rack up as lengthy of a resumé as his costars. This could mean that he’s a bit more expendable than the famous faces surrounding him.
Then again, he’s the youngest member of the cast, so he can theoretically hide in small places and slip through the cracks. He’s also a teenager, which means that the adults probably won’t be paying him much attention (and are likely not trying to kill him). He’s in the perfect position — too young to be taken seriously and too innocent to be violently murdered (right?). Let’s just hope he’s learned by now that voices coming from storm drains are not to be approached.
Who will live? Who will die? More importantly, will Taste users rank Knives Out among the best films of 2019? Find out in the Taste app this Thanksgiving, and be sure to leave your in-app review after you see the film!
