Knives Out PG-13
Writer-director Rian Johnson reconceives the old whodunnit as a saucy comedy. When best-selling crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead on the morning after his 85th birthday gathering, private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) arrives determined to find the writer's killer. Seen largely from the perspective of Thrombey's maid, Marta (Ana de Armas), we meet his heirs: elegant Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis), sincere Walt (Michael Shannon) and widowed Joni (Toni Collette), along with their various offspring. It seems everyone is dying to get their hands on the old man's money. Thrombey's rambling mansion, replete with secret passageways and hidden rooms, helps reveal the loose screws in his dysfunctional family.
Queen & Slim R
After meeting on an online dating site, Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Slim (Daniel Kaluuya) are nearing the end of their first date when they shoot and kill a white cop in what they believe is self-defense. A video of the incident goes viral, splashing the pair's faces across the news as the manhunt ramps up. Fugitives Queen and Slim are helped by the black community in this thinly plotted, heavily atmospheric film that relies on its hip-hop soundtrack to deliver much of its social commentary.
