Is Blood Thicker Than Water?

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A Few Thoughts on Johnson’s “Knives Out” 
Knives Out (2019) is an murder- mystery film directed by Rian Johnson, starring Daniel 
Craig, Chris Evan, Ana de Armas and Jamie Lee Curtis. Unlike most mystery films with a somber 
overtone, it is considerably a fun and fresher take. It revolves around an investigation of the 
mysterious death of a patriarch, Harlan Thrombey, who apppeared to have committed suicide on 
his very own birthday. It explored the immediate aftermath of his death, as well as the 
circumstances that lead to it. It’s a story of a family, but their dynamics are anything like it.  
In our Filipino culture, family is of utmost importance. We live in a collectivist society that 
places value on the relationships that an individual has, one’s family above all else. This is evident in 
how important dates such as birthdays are often met with a great deal of celebration, never 
complete if family weren’t there. It was quite similar in the movie where we saw in a flashback that 
the Thrombeys had come together to celebrate Harlan’s 85th. Similar to any other family, 
squabbles are present here and there. Harlan’s relationship to his family was particularly strained, 
which are noticeably usual family problem tropes such as infidelity, disinheritance and “black 
sheeps.” It was then shown how each of the family members fed incomplete stories favoring 
themselves to the police. Family did not seem to contain the warmth that most of us are 
accustomed to, or at least idealized to have. It was treated like a business transaction. This is quite 
evident in the depiction of rich families not just in Knives Out, but in most films themselves. In 
Harlan’s life, the Thrombeys had exploited his wealth on the basis of familial ties. In his death, they 
seem to give more priority to the matter of his inheritance. 
The Thrombeys challenged the family construct. But family is still family. In Psychology, 
humans have a need for belongingness and affection, among others. Families should ideally meet 
these. If Harlan could not find it in his own family, he found it elsewhere– in the character of 
Marta Cabrera, his caregiver and close friend. It was shown how he trusted Cabrera more than his 
own blood, ultimately emphasizing how she chose her to be his heir.