Daniel Craig's Knives Out character pays homage to 1972's Sleuth, and more Easter eggs from the film
As an Agatha Christie-inspired whodunit, Knives Out is full of twists and turns. But hidden among those twists and turns is something else for aspiring sleuths to uncover: Easter eggs.
Sitting down with his starry cast for a Thanksgiving-themed episode of EW’s Around the Table, writer-director Rian Johnson revealed one such hidden nugget to Daniel Craig, who plays the film’s private eye, Benoit Blanc. Craig tells the table — which also included castmates Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Katherine Langford, Michael Shannon, Ana de Armas, Don Johnson, and Jaeden Martell — that his character is introduced in the film after having just solved a case involving a tennis player, but the case is never explained in the film.
Johnson revealed that the info about Blanc is actually a nod to the 1972 mystery film Sleuth. “At the beginning of Sleuth, the novel that he’s dictating is Death by Double Faults, and he’s describing how the killer paced along the lines of the tennis court and threw the body into the clay,” Johnson explained.
But that’s not the only Easter egg to be found in the film. Check out these other little nods, straight from Johnson himself:
—Johnson has worked with Joseph Gordon-Levitt since his first film, Brick, and the actor has been in every one of Johnson’s movies to date, with Knives Out being no exception. In the scene in the beginning of the film where Marta (de Armas) is watching TV in her apartment, Gordon-Levitt’s voice can be heard on the television. According to Johnson, he plays the role of Detective Hardrock.
—Throughout the movie, the portrait of Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) watches over the aftermath of his death. The portrait is not all it seems, though. Keep your eye on it from the beginning of the film to the end and see if a sly little change catches your attention.
—In Brick, there was a certain symbol that played a key role in the mystery. Johnson couldn’t resist sneaking it into Knives Out, and teases that viewers should keep their eyes peeled during the car chase scene.
—The late magician and actor Ricky Jay was a scholar of all things mysterious, and one of history’s great sleight-of-hand artists. He and Johnson were friends, and Johnson found a way to pay tribute to Jay, who was slated to have a small part in the movie before his death (he would be replaced by M. Emmet Walsh). Look closely in the security camera shack and see if you can spot Jay.
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