Clue & 9 Other Darkly Entertaining Movies To Watch If You Liked Knives Out

Fresh from the controversy of the eighth episode of Star Wars, Rian Johnson gathered an incredibly impressive ensemble cast and wrote, directed and produced Knives Out. The film was a huge success, with critics commenting on every element from its cinematography to endless unexpected twists and turns.

It is a modern take on the classic whodunnit mystery genre, allowing an eclectic mixture of characters to bounce off of each other and keep the audience guessing. While a sequel starring Daniel Craig is currently in development, here are ten similar films to tide you over if you’re looking for something similar.

10 Murder On The Orient Express

We haven’t specified a year for the version of Murder On The Orient Express you should watch, because fans of Knives Out will probably find something to love in every single one. It’s a classic mystery film based on the 1934 Agatha Christie novel and will have you sucked into the attempt to figure out who killed Edward Ratchett.

Whether you go for the 2017 Hollywood version, the 1974 original or the two TV versions from the 2000s, you’ll be gripped. Watch if you like: to figure whodunnit.

9 Gone Girl (2014)

David Fincher’s take on the fantastic Gone Girl novel was a big-budget, big-runtime success. He told the story of Amy Elliot Dunne’s disappearance with incredible tension and creepy characterization, leaving just about any viewer gripped by the mid-point change of pace.

Watch if you like: a major mid-story change.

8 Parasite (2019)

Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning masterpiece, Parasite, is the most recent film on this list. It is arguably the best and most famous Korean film ever made, and will highly likely make its way into many lists of the greatest films ever one day.

The non-stop twists and turns of the interesting and ever-evolving story mirror the endless changes of pace delivered by Knives Out. Watch if you like: constant changes of pace.

7 Clue (1985)

Based on the board game of the same name, Clue allows comedy to make its way into a mystery-forward story that adapted the game of the same name. The ensemble cast and experimental (the film had three different endings, spread between different cinemas) approach helped gain interest, but the actual film itself was considered rather average.

Whatever your view, it’ll appeal to fans of Knives Out due to the undeniable similarities and the fact that both make a farce out of the detective story while still being a good detective story. Watch if you like: mystery.

6 Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)

Like it or not, it’s hard to contradict the fact that Rian Johnson’s attempt at making a Star Wars film was always going to be doused in controversy because, well, it’s Star Wars. While the style and plot of Knives Out and The Last Jedi have basically nothing in common, the directorial style lingers.

Johnson is a fan of breaking the expectations of his audience, and if The Last Jedi did one thing, it was that. Watch if you like: having your expectations thrown out of the window.

5 The Cabin In The Woods (2011)

Much like The Last Jedi, there isn’t a whole lot of storyline similarity that connects The Cabin In The Woods to Knives Out, but there is a distinct overlap in the approach to filmmaking in both.

While Knives Out is a satirical take on whodunnit films that still manages to be a brilliant whodunnit film, The Cabin In The Woods perfectly satirizes horror, while remaining very scary. Watch if you like: genre satire.

4 Identity (2003)

Identity is, for the first half of its runtime, a relatively standard slasher film in which the central characters are trying to work out who is killing people and why. Knives Out shares a motivation.

What Identity does differently, is push twists to the absolute top of the pile, leaving your mind blown by the film’s conclusion. Even Knives Out doesn’t take things that far. Watch if you like: twists.

3 And Then There Were None (1945)

Returning to the Queen of whodunnit, Agatha Christie, we have And Then There Were None. The novel is the best-selling mystery book in the world thanks to its brilliant characters and interesting storyline.

As with many classics of this nature, there have been a number of adaptations across the year, with the first being released in 1945 and the most recent in 2015. Watch if you like: murder mystery.

2 Rear Window (1954)

The master of suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock, was at the helm of Rear Window, a film often considered to be his finest work. It is frequently considered to be amongst the greatest films ever made despite being set almost exclusively in one room.

The film follows James Stewart’s Jeff as he obsessively watches his neighbors and assigns them personalities and lifestyles. Watch if you like: being kept on your toes.

1 Shutter Island (2010)

Martin Scorsese returned to the thrillers with none other than Shutter Island. The film starred Leonardo DiCaprio as Teddy Daniels, a US Marshal looking to investigate a missing patient from a psychiatric facility on a secure island.

While much of the film overlaps with Knives Out (who did it and why?), an even stronger connection is created when everything we thought we knew about the characters and their story is flipped. Watch if you like: mystery and twists.