Rian Johnson’s colorfulKnives Outcast introduced an army of characters that have been difficult to forget since the film’s 2019 premiere. The whodunit featured a list of acclaimed stars including Christopher Plummer, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Michael Shannon, and Don Johnson.
Over the next few years,Knives Outsequels will feature thereturn of Daniel Craig’s eccentric Detective Benoit Blanc.Knives Out’snarrative revolves around the death of Harlan Thrombey, a renowned crime writer who appears to have been murdered on the evening of his birthday celebration. The film sets up the various members of his family as the suspects and whether any of them are capable of pulling the crime off is questioned.
RELATED:Knives Out 2 Expected To Hit Theaters And Netflix This Fall
The members of the Thrombey and Drysdale family all have their own motives and flaws. Each of them is introduced in a manner that is designed to make viewers suspicious of their motives, but only one of them is guilty of harming Harlan. All the members of the Thrombey and Drysdale clanbelieve they are the smartestand most deserving of leadership or a reward from Harlan’s inheritance, but only one of them is the savviest.
Who the most intellectual member of the family is can certainly be debated, but given the events ofKnives Out, only Ransom Drysdale has a solid case to be considered the smartest. Of the biological members of the family, Ransom wascapable of using the knowledge he hasof each of them to his advantage. During the film, it is revealed that Ransom previously worked with Harlan over the summer. This subtle detail is enough to suggest that Ransom had more than enough time to pick up on Harlan’s creative process and craft a deceitful ploy that Harlan may have used in a novel of his own.
Even though Ransom was ultimately caught in the end, the argument could be made that he was only caught because of his own cockiness. Had he not hired Benoit Blanc, the chance of the detectives orother members of the familyfiguring things out would’ve been slim to none. Ransom was a flaky character that failed to appear at the initial police questioning at Harlan’s home and failed to make an appearance at his funeral. The first time Ransom is seen is at the reading of Harlan’s will because he already knows how things are going to turn out. His appearance is merely another step in his plan to try and outsmart his grandfather and Marta.
Ransom’s Scooby-Doo-esque plot certainly would’ve worked if everything had gone according to plan. Knowing his grandfather’s medical needs, Ransom knew what would’ve been needed toframe Marta for the crime. He also knew that his family wouldn’t defend her if they suspected her responsible for his death and that once the contents of the will were revealed, they would be too busy fighting amongst one another and further alienating Marta to remain angry and suspicious of him. Involving himself in the mix as Marta’s savior and lone defender was also a smart touch on his end, as he would be guaranteed his cut of the inheritance no matter how things turned out.
Of the biological members of the family, Ransom’s only competition is his mother Linda, his Uncle Walt, and cousins Meg and Jacob. Aside from Ransom,Walt is the only other memberwho appears to have any outright anger for Harlan that could be redirected into a vengeful plot. Cut out of the publishing company, Walt finds himself on the outside looking in. Unlike Linda, he doesn’t have a successful business outside of Harlan’s wealth to rely on. Meg and Jacob are largely in the same boat, as their current lifestyles are dependent on the money made or given to them from Harlan’s success.
What makes Ransom the smartest member of the family isn’t only reliant on the harm hebrought to his grandfather. In Ransom’s interactions with his family, he is the only person that manages to take things as they are. At the will reading, the revelation that he’s been cut out of the will leads the family to give him a pep talk that they fail to take into account for themselves moments later. His ability to get under their skin with a few words is a testament to how well he knows them, and what their responses to certain scenarios will be.
Ransom is treated as the most childish member of the Thrombey and Drysdale family, despite being many years older than Meg and Jacob. His family remarks that he never truly grew up because of his dependency on Harlan (which is ironic coming from most of them). In spite of how his family treats him, Ransom is easily the most devious member of the family. Even if unsuccessful in the end, Ransom has the ability to plan several steps ahead of his family in a manner that may have made Harlan proud if he had been around to see it. Of all the members of the family, Ransom might be the only person who truly shared Harlan’s mystic mind.
MORE:10 Things You Didn’t Know About Knives Out & Its Upcoming Netflix Sequels
