Knives Out (2019)

Hello, returning Happys and new listeners. This is Steve Bennet-Martin. And

this is Stephen Martin-Bennet, and

welcome to a lifetime of happiness. The podcaster, we take you on our journey through some of the movies, shows, and other bits of pop culture that are helping to keep us happy while hopefully bring a smile to your face along the way. And

this month is Murder Mystery March as we explore some of our favorite murder mystery movies and we're starting with Knives

Out. Yes, it's definitely one of my most favorite murder mysteries of recent years, so I can't wait to get into that. But before we do that, What's been making you happy?

Witches. Lots and lots of witches, but that adds up. Yeah, that adds up that tracks. But specific, specifically the Mayfair Witches. Yes.

We benched that it was on a channel. It was on a

m c. Yes, because they have all the rights to. Anne Rice, immortal Universe.

Oh, okay. Yep. So this is in the same universe as there other books.

It is in the same universe as the interview with the Vampire, which they did last fall. Mm-hmm. And so Mayfair, which is was this spring, both have already been renewed for a season two. So I'm very excited to see where it all

goes. The interview with the vampire one was the one that was like gay porn? Yes. That okay. That would be the one. Okay. I walked in and I was like, oh, I'm sorry to interrupt, and you're like, no, it's a TV show, But yes, the Mayfair Witches I did enjoy as well. I know you love anything witch related, but I would say that not only did I love the setting of New Orleans and just seeing how this, like generations of witches all tied together. What did you like about.

The cast was really good. You know, you had Annabeth Gish,

and that's the old lady that's in everything? No, that's Beth Gantt.

Okay. Who is absolutely phenomenal. And she usually plays, you know a cranky or a cantankerous like funny role. Yeah. But in this one, she was kind of the villain. and there's also Alexandra daddario who really, she's been doing a lot of things for a while, but the first season of White Lotus really springboarded her into a lot of things and Harry Hamlin was, is kind of a patriarch of the family and there's just a lot of really good people. Like you said, the setting of New Orleans is.

Fantastic. Yes, we are fans of New Orleans and

Because this is a queer podcast, I did love that there was a trans actress on the show and her transness was not a storyline or anything. She was just accepted as female as. Which I loved.

Yes. Cuz I recognized that actress when she was on the Clarice Clarice. Yes. And they did make her transition a part of the story or like her secret quote unquote part of the story. Yeah. So I do really love that. It just wasn't addressed or she was just another normal woman. Exactly. And I love that.

That's how it should be. Exactly. What's been making you happy, my darling? The last of us, the video game?

No, I beat that like 20 years ago. The TV show,

Oh. And but it's based on the video game.

It is the last of us is a. Was a PlayStation three game that turned into a four, and they've even put it on the five. But it was one of the few games as an adult that I remember getting to the end and just bawling my eyes out, like as I was playing. It is a very emotionally charged, zombie, quote unquote series, and we're about halfway through. We watched the episode that apparently was gonna destroy us and it wasn't that bad. But I did love the gay representation. Correct. I didn't

cry at all. Like all the people on Twitter were like, were like, oh my God, I was just destroyed. I cried so much, and I was like, it was really good. but no. Yeah. Pedro Pascal, who seems to be in everything these days mm-hmm. Plays Joel. Joel Yep. And Bella Ramsey, who was so kickass in game of Thrones. Game of Thrones plays. Ellie.

Yes. And it is, I mean, I already know how it ends, but I'm excited to see how the journey unfolds along the. and if the season ends with the end of the first game or if it's like halfway through, cuz there's a lot to work with. Yeah. So I'm excited to see what comes next, but I'm definitely enjoying the binge. I believe either all or almost all the episodes are currently up on H B O and so definitely catch up with us and let you know what you think about that.

So Melanie Linsky, who we love from yellow. Oh yeah. And things other things. She was just in the last episode. He was, she was, she was in two of the episodes as a villain. Is her character in the game too?

I don't think so. Okay. But I, I, if I was to write a part for someone, it would be her It was

really intriguing. Like I, I was impressed by.

All of that. I am tempted somewhat to boot up that PS4 and see what I was missing cuz I played the last of us too recently. And like I feel like when you play a sequel of a game, like I remember the broad strokes of the first one, but not as clearly cuz this is coming from the guy who can watch a movie five years ago and not remember having watched it. So the fact that is true about, I. Feelings about the memories of playing the game, but the memories themselves are a little foggy. That's

why I'm gonna replay Breath of the Wild before Tears of the Kingdom comes out, because it's been six

years. Yes. But the, the gay guy that they got the stuff from, they didn't have his partner in and he wasn't gay, but he was a character in the in it. Oh, okay. I did look that up when I was like, I don't remember any of this in the game. But yes, I enjoy it and I love that both of our movies had good queer representation. Exactly.

Now let's talk about this movie. Knives Out. Yes.

Knives Out. Why do you

love it? Okay, so it's really smart. It's funny, it has an amazing cast who all give incredible performances and just the, when you think you know where it's going, It totally changes like the most of the movie you think, you know, the twist ahead, it like, and just, you know, and the characters don't, and then like your mind is blown at the end.

Yeah, I love it. I mean, IM, DVY describes it as a detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family. I, that's accurate. Okay, cool. for those not in the note. It's a 2019 American mystery film, written, directed, and co-produced by Ryan Johnson known for other projects like Brick, the Brothers Bloom and Star Wars, the Last Jedi and Funny story.

As soon as it was called Knives Out and it was about a wealthy family. After the Patriarch Dies, that title just made sense because like come when it comes time for the will, they're all gonna have their

knives out. Yeah, yeah. And it has quite a hell of a cast. My love. I know that it's Stars Daniel Craig Asbe Blanc, but would you like to run down the list of other household names?

I would, and it includes Captain America, Chris Evan. the Queen of Queens', Jamie Lee Curtis recently playing the Blonde Bombshell Anna de Armas. It has Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Tony Collette, who is amazing in everything she does. Yes, Laki Feld, Catherine Langford, Juden Martel, and Christopher Plum. Who a lot of people might remember as Papa Von Trap.

Yes. I'm just like, glad that Catherine Langford was okay after that whole bathtub incident. Ugh. Yeah.

Like there were no, there were 13.

13. Reasons. Why, why, yes. Yes. Thank goodness. Yes. Now Ryan Johnson kept strict control over how much each actor knew about the script to make sure that those playing were in the dark and as confused as the people they were portraying. I think that's really sparked. Yes. And there's another fun fact about names and numbers. You're the math man. You tell me.

Despite playing his mother in the film. Kay Callen is actually six years and 27 days younger than Christopher Plumer. Plumber was born on December 13th, 1929, and Callen was born. on January 9th,

1936. Yes. And for those who don't know those actors by name, that was Harlan and his elderly mother Juanetta. Yes. And the movie was not released on Netflix. It was released on November 27th, 2019, with a budget of $40 million in a box office of 311.9 million. And it has since led to a successful sequel, the Glass Onion, which is on Netflix.

Yes. So like when we were going to watch this I went to Netflix and I was like, why is it not on Netflix? And you were like, it should be on Netflix.

And I thought it would be on Netflix because the sequels on

Netflix. Well, I had forgotten that only one of them premiered on Netflix. I forgot that we saw one in

the theater. And for me to remember something, it's a win. Yes,

because I was like, it should be streaming. And you're like, I think we bought it. And thankfully we did. Yes, because it was not streaming anywhere free Right now it's like you have to pay for it at least 3 99. Oh no. Hey, you should be able to get it for free if you're already paying. A subscription fee to so many services. Yes,

it should be free everywhere. For us. Yes, and for all of you listeners, now let's jump him into the movie. So

wealthy renowned crime novelist, Harlan Thrombi, invites his immediate and extended family to his remote mansion on his 85th birthday. In order to deliver some important though disappointing news to a number of family members. Everyone close to him was there the next morning. However, Harlan's housekeeper friend finds him dead in a study with his throat slit.

Yes, and I do love how they jumped right to the death at the beginning. We don't know anything about those first couple sentences until later on. We just walk in. Fran finding his dead body. Yeah. And screaming and dropping everything Rightfully. Yeah. Cause I can't imagine walking in on a dead body. Have you ever walked in on a dead body? I'm sure that would've come up before.

So I, one of my residents was dying and he flatlined while I was there, so that's about as close, but. They did revive him. But no,

I've never walked in on a murder. No. Okay. I think I would, I would've told you I walked in a whole, I think I would've known this past decade. It would've come up once or twice, but yes, just wanted to check. Yep. But yes, we're introduced to a lot of characters and dynamics and quick RapidFire succession. We have Marta, the nurse and caregiver of Harlan and his closest companion.

There's Meg, the granddaughter of Har. Who is close to Marta due to them being close in age, and

also she's one of the few ones in the family. That's not an ass hat most of the time. Yes. Linda Drysdale, Harlan's oldest daughter. She has a large real estate business and has a special relationship with her father

Walt. He is the son of Harlan and runs the family's publishing

company. Donna's Walt's wife, but isn't also much of a character at

all. There's Jacob Walt's son, who is an alt-right Nazi. Go Dad,

Joni Thrombi, Harlan's daughter-in-law. Her husband's dead and Meg's mother. Harlan gives her a yearly allowance and pays for Meg's college. There's

Richard, Linda's husband, who is ultra MAGA and has no tact

or filter. There's Ransom. Linda and Richard's son, black Sheep of the family.

And in everyone's retelling of the night of the party, they show us visuals of when Harlan's cake is in front of him with all the candles lit, and in everyone's retelling, they're all, they're on either side of them. So one person is telling the truth or possibly they're all lying, and no one was beside him as he was blowing out

his candles. Yeah. Who do you think would've been the one most likely to be beside him? Linda? Yeah, of course. Yep. The police, along with famous Detective Manuel Blanc, are at the Mansion to investigate the death. Blan is lurking the by the piano during the police interviews, not saying a word until the time is right. Yep. He says he's there at the behest of a client who he does not name, and his main goal is to find out what ha happened.

So the interesting thing is whenever we find out Bi Blanc Yeah. Joni's, like you're famous. I read a tweet about a New Yorker article that you were featured in, and then Linda goes, I read the New Yorker article you were featured in. That tells us a lot about both of their characters. Characters in one

sentence. Correct. Are you more likely to read the actual article or read. I am the

Linda in this

situation. I am the Joni in this

situation. Yeah. I'm not gonna read the headline. Like I will read that article.

Yes. And throughout a series of interviews with members of the Family, secrets are revealed as possible, modus for murder. Walters the first suspect. Linda says, Walt did well with what Harlan gave him. Insinuating he has nothing on his own. Linda's quick to defend the family. Are you baiting me? Yes, he was. Yeah. Yeah. She's smart enough not to share family secrets. Richard, on the other hand, just says it all.

Now Ransom. Linda and Richard's son never had a job. Harlan supported him. Ransom and Harlan had a big fight at the party and we find out that Ransom was cut out of the will entire.

Meanwhile, Richard Harlan's son-in-law was discovered to have cheated on his wife, Linda, with Harlan threatened to expose him because no one fucks with Jamie Lee Curtis. Exactly. You tell her our I will. Yes. Harlan says he put it all in a letter and he would give it to Linda the day after the party. Richard says their argument was about putting Harlan's mother into a home. Yep.

Joni Harlan's, daughter-in-law and wife of deceased son. Was exposed by Harlan as having stolen $400,000 from him by sourcing duplicate checks meant for her daughter's schooling to a private bank account, getting him to write one check and the accountants to write another, and she pocketed one and paid for the tuition with another. Harlan is writing one last tuition check, and then she and Meg are cut.

I just wonder how it took four years for him to figure this out. He seems like that's how much money they have. Well, no, but he said at one point it was like over four years. A hundred thousand a year. Yeah. I would've thought he would've figured after year one or two, but I guess he was cleaning house near the end. Yeah. Now, Marta was hired by Harlan directly. She says Harlan needed a friend. We also find out that Marta vomits when she lies.

Yeah. Ben Wallace says the death was not typical of a. But the police don't believe that anyone had motive for better motive for murder, but

know better. Yes. And for those of you who might not remember the details of his quote unquote suicide, his throat was slit, which I agree is not the normal way to kill yourself

now. So what are some of your first impressions of this family, these people? do tell. I

mean, I love Jeanie Lee right away, that power suit. Oh,

and the stark white hair. Yeah. And just the way she carries herself. She embodied this character

so well. So well, yes. And then there Marta Grummy more as the movie went on, but you definitely like are endeared to her right from the gut code just because you could see how much she cares and how she's the outsider.

Chris Evans Ransom is just so smar. and Smirky and awful. But he's not a character that you dislike like you want to because he's Chris Evans. Because I guess because he's Chris Evans, but he plays it so well that you're like, oh, I want to see what he's doing next.

Yeah, yeah. Because not even counting like the Captain America of it all, like most of his roles, he's like the hero, the lead, the romantic guy. Yeah. So for him to be like this, like the dick smarmy dick, like it was, it was, he did it really well and.

Tony Collette doing Joni this kind of woowoo out there, metaphysical type of woman. That,

and you can say that as a woowoo metaphysical type of man. Yeah.

She doesn't seem to have a ton of substance. She seems to have a lot of ideas, but doesn't make anything happen except for figuring out how to steal $400,000. Yes,

exactly. and right off the bat, after all these interviews, who was, who did you think was the most obvious suspect?

Either so the showing us the argument with ransom, I thought was baiting us like, and so me loving murder mysteries and things, I was like, that's gonna be the red herring. It's gonna be Walt who. Wouldn't stand up to his dad unless he was drunk and things, and then finally snap and he's gonna finally snap. Yeah. So

I thought it was Walt. Yeah. I thought it was Walter, even his son somehow at

first. Oh. Standing of the AltRight troll standing up for

his dad. Yeah. Type of thing. Yep. But yeah, it is interesting that like looking back, knowing how it all ends with it being ransom, like after that first one we were like, who's the most likely one to do it? Ransom. And it was him in the end. But it was a fun trip along the way to figure that out.

Now you have an important question about all

this. Yes, the family is clearly dysfunctional. Now, do you think that being rich makes you a shitty person or do shitty people just tend to get rich more than the rest of us? So

I think that it is more along the lines of whether you have inherited wealth versus made wealth. And in this case, they are all coming from a place of extreme p. and I think that that is what makes all the ones that are truly shitty. Mm-hmm. Are the ones that relied on the money and didn't try to do

anything else. Yeah. Cuz I would say that like Jamie Lee's character, Linda, Linda is probably like one of the most likable in that family. And while she had a loan to get her business started of a million dollars. Yeah. She turned it into a successful business. A real estate empire. Yeah, exactly. So I, I can see how that rather than being. Edit it to you. Cuz I had a lot of things handed to me when I was little and I realized in college that I was a little bit spoiled.

I I absolutely was spoiled as a child. I fully admit that. Yep.

And I had to get over that as an adult. Exactly. My parents just one day were like, Nope, we're not spoiling you anymore. You're 14. Go get your own job.

Now Bin Wa decides to get info out of Marta using her inability to lie. He quickly finds out about Richard's affair, Joni being cut off and why, and Walt getting fired.

And this is even worse than having a vein on my forehead pop out every time I lies. Yeah. So

listeners if you ever are playing like poker or something against, And a giant vein appears in the middle of his forehead. He is fibbing, he's lying. And if a second one comes on his temple, he's really

lying and doing a bad job at.

Yeah, that is his big tell that he cannot stop.

Yes. Now everyone at the time of death, according Towe wa Blanc, looks like this.

The party ends at

11:30 PM. Marta took Harlan up to bed to give him his meds. We find out that

the stairs to the Attic Creek horribly

Linda's a light sleeper, cuz of course she is and hears all the creeks and noises.

Joni hears a ka funk while meditating and she goes up to ask if everyone is okay. Harlan says they knocked a game board over,

which was really cute. Linda's woken up again as Marta leaves at

midnight Waldo's smoking a cigar on the porch and sees Marta leave.

1215. Harlan comes back downstairs for a snack. 1230

Meg gets.

The time of death, therefore would be between 1230 and 2:00 AM The dogs bark around

3:00

AM and the blood splatter says that no one was directly in the path of the blood.

Okay? So it is revealed that after the party Harlan's caretaker, Marta Kra took Harlan upstairs to give him his nightly medication. And where is

she from? Her family,

Well, so thi this is a point later in the movie, but. So Jamie Lee's character says that she's from Ecuador. Yep. Everyone else, including her husband, and her husband actually named multiple countries for her every

time. It's a different country, but no

one else says the same country. Here is your question for that. Yeah. Are any of them

correct? I don't know. Or did she ever say

specifically what she No, she never. I give, I would think that if

anything Linda's correct. I

would agree. That's who I would put my money. Is that Linda's correct? And no one else bothered and they just picked a random Central America or South American country because to them they're all the same.

That sounds like my father What? He doesn't listen to this podcast. He won't know

After beginning a game of Go, Harlan jokingly knocked the board off the table because he was losing like usual. In doing so, he also knocked his medicine to the floor before Marta could give him his medication. Harlan says he cut off four of his family members and maybe he should have followed Marta's advice and encouraged Walt to write his own stories or tried to be a father to Joanie instead of just a provider. Or he could have been kinder to ran.

Yep. Marta then picks up the bottles from the floor and injects him, but realizes afterwards that she accidentally switched the bottles and gave him a hundred milligrams from the bottle labeled morphine, which is about 30 times too much. He's gonna die in 10 minutes without something to counteract it, but that vial that would counteract it is missing from her bag. Harlan is amused by this turn of events and thinks of it as a good plot point for a story.

I think he is definitely excited about going out this way because at his age, 85, yeah, he probably assumed that he would go out from a bad liver, heart failure, or just dying and asleep to go out being poisoned. I. the mystery writer in him is like, this is the

best. Yeah. Cuz the entire time he's like thinking about like, oh, well, you know, of course if this was foul play, then the

the, and he's writing down notes, like he's dying, but he's writing down notes. Like he's getting ready to prep for his next book.

Yeah, exactly. So I just found that that was very interesting of a character, you know, point for him. Yep. Now to protect his friend Harlan gives Marta strict instructions on how to escape from this and avoid. Marta's mother's undocumented and he wants to make sure no scrutiny comes to Marta or her family. She starts to leave and goes back into the room just as he slits his own throat. So

his plan. He says his plan will trick the average cop. He tells her to leave, be seen, and draw attention to what time it is, which is why she goes, oh my gosh, midnight

already. Yes. Cuz when Walt was retelling it, it was him looking at his watch and he didn't hear her. Yeah. But when we actually see her version of it, she's the one who announced it and then he looks at

his watch. Yep. Then drive out of the gate and pull off the road before the elephant elephant. Now she misremembered. It was supposed to be turn off the road after the elephant to avoid being detected by the security cameras. She did that wrong. Now come back to the house. Through the side gate. The dogs won't bark. Since they know her and like her climb the trellis and come in through the third floor trick hall. It's a window you can see from the outside.

Which will make sense later. Yes. But overall, I think it's a, it's a hell of hell of life. That's a plan for someone to make up in 30 seconds after morphine overdose.

Yeah. Like it, it gives her an amazing alibi. Everyone saw her leave and two people saw Harlan.

After? Yes. Could you have done this?

Ugh. To save my own ass? Yes.

I think that I would've failed when it came to climbing the trellis. I would've, because I'm not graceful or quiet. And like,

but, but we did that. Like several times we've done those wall climbing things and we both made it to the top.

Not the best at

it though. I have faith in you. All right. Have faith. Hopefully

I never cover up a murder. I hope I never have to cover up a murder this way, Now, because Harlan knows about her inability to lie. He coaches Marta to tell fragments of. That they went upstairs. The game board fell. Joni came up. She gave him his meds. She left at midnight. She saw Walt. The police listened and now consider a trustworthy source due to her inability to lie without vomiting, but suspecting foul play. Blanca determined to find out the true cause of death the

next day. Daylan along with Marta, and the police searched the house in its surroundings for clues, many of which Marta is able to cover up before the detectives can. Like using a magnet on the VHS tape of the security footage that shows her car Yep. Stepping on her muddy footprints from the night of the party tossing the piece of the broken trellis away that the dog had brought to her. Yeah, Marta has a drop of blood on her shoe from when she went back in the room as Harlan slit his throat.

like you. I know it's the sign of an overactive and smart. Is it? That's what I tell myself. Not a guilty murderer. No, I'm not guilty. Just a murderer. Ben notices that the game board falling to the ground is not loud enough to be the that Joni heard. I love how he keeps all of his cards close to his chest, though, not sharing what his thoughts are about it. Yeah, he sees things but he doesn't let the other suspects know that he's piecing it all together.

Now flashback to the party. Metaphysical Joni pushes back against Maga Richard, Walt's wife. Donna says, America's losing the culture war and millions of Mexicans are crossing the border. Richard tries to get Marta in on the undocumented conversation saying Marta is one of the good ones because she came in the right way. Linda tells him to leave the kid alone, and this was the moment that Ransom was fighting with Harlan. Jacob, the Nazi, heard the phrase.

Gross. Yeah. Well, no, they were, they, whether they guess he was masturbating to pictures of dead deer.

That's right. Dead, yeah. Dead Sonic or other. Yeah. So. Yep. At the

memorial. Yeah. Housekeeper, Fran doesn't think it was suicide. And also, I mean, the, the, the counteraction like wasn't there and it should have been in the bag, so that should have also raised more red flags That foul play was involved. I feel

like, I think she's just so flustered that her flustered us has gotten the audience flustered, that we forget that the counter. Isn't there? And we're thinking because she messed up and gave him that, that she also could have misplaced the other

vial. Yeah. Well that's not what ha happened.

Yeah. Linda's crying over memories of Harlan. She says she's waiting for the big reveal for it all to make sense. She's genuinely sad and potentially the only family. Truly upset about Harlan dying. Yeah, I

could see that. Walt tells Marta that family wants to give her something financially. He also says she should have been at the funeral, but was out voted. Linda had said the same thing to her previously, and I feel like one or two other people said it along the movie too. Yeah, but like, like if everyone in the family who said that they voted for her to be at the funeral, voted for her to be at the funeral, she would've, she would've been at the funeral. At the funeral, yeah.

I, yeah. I could see Walt's entire family voting against her. Yeah, of course.

Yeah. And

Yeah, li like Linda May have her fault, but I think that she's probably a decent

person. Yeah. And if her husband had a vote, he would've said no. Exactly. Yes. Now the day of Harlan's will of reading shit goes crazy. Yeah. The family's anxiously awaiting the. Walt goes after ransom and says no one will give him one red dime, but ransom just smirks. Linda and Richards say This may be good for ransom to help him learn how to be be on his own two feet. He proceeds to tell everyone to eat shit. You eat

shit and you eat shit and especially you eat

shit. Yes. And the funny line, he actually came up with that line of each shit because originally in the script it was, fuck you. And they were afraid of that many fuck yous in a row. would've bumped it from a PG 13 rating to an R-rated MO rating. So they said like, what can we say instead of, fuck you? And he said, why don't I say each shit?

And honestly, I think that that in this day and age is probably more offensive to people. Yeah. Than than, fuck you. That's just become a thing that people say. But like telling someone to eat shit, shit. Yeah. That's like,

that's personal Yeah. That's some two girls won Cup stuff. I don't want any No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We're not going there. All right. Sounds good. Well, the will was changed one week before Harlan's death. And the house 60 million and blood, like wine publishing, which is an awesome name. Yeah. And all the rights to all of his books are left to Marta. The family's stunned. They can't believe it's real or legal.

And Linda has an epic meltdown. Yeah. Talks to the attorney, take this piece of paper and shove it up your ass and get out. We need to talk. We need to fight. We are the thrombis. This is still

our house. And then they say, no, no, it's not you

little bitch. Did you know about this? Were you blinking my father?

Yep. And despite the family's kindness, ta Marta, the night prior, they quickly all turn on her. But Ransom helps her escape while echoing his mother's line. I think

this is the best thing that could have happened to all of you. Yes.

and several characters refer to a fictional Hallmark movie the night before and during the well reading starring Danica McKeller titled Deadly By.

The MCR was not asked if her name could be used. She was delighted that it was included, and she shared her love for this film on Instagram. She later sent director Ryan Johnson, a knife with the words deadly. Surprise. Surprise engraved on it. Yes. I love

that. I do too. Yes. And the painting of Harlan that we see multiple characters looking on and reflecting on throughout the movie wasn't actually finished until after the film wrapped. So every scene showing it as a special

effect shot? Yeah, it's just a green screen that they're looking at.

and in the commentary director Ryan Johnson described Kiff Chris Evans entrance with all the dogs surrounding him and barking at him cuz he's so evil as some of the best acting he's ever seen because. Dogs love Chris Evans. And Chris Evans loves dogs.

Yes. Now, Ryan Johnson said that Michael Shannon was by far the funniest person on set and came up with a lot of his characters', funny lines and physical moments, such as his triumphant arm raise during the eat shit scene in his retort. I am not eating one

iotta of shit. Yes. Yeah. Some similarly Jacob's. You had sex with my grandpa. You Dirty Anchor Baby was improvised by Jayden Martel. It was originally lost in the scene since multiple characters were talking and yelling at once. But Michael Shannon noticed this and approached Ryan Johnson telling him that Martel had a killer line. So they made sure to go back and capture it. And I thought that was very funny until I realized how offensive Anchor Baby is.

Yeah, like, I mean, it just goes to show how truly. Walt's family is especially

Jacob. Yes. Now at a diner. Ransom wants to know why she was left. Everything she says she suspects this has more to do with the family than with her truth. Yes. Now, after the

party that night, like after the 85th party. Yep.

Ransom says he drove all night to get the clarity needed to fend for himself, and he knows Harlan didn't kill him. Ransom made Marta eat. So she would have to tell the truth to avoid throwing up the sausage and beans. Yeah. Ransom. She tells him everything. Ransom says he won't tell the family or the detective that he'll want to honor Harlan's wishes he'll help her get away with it and she'll still give him his cut of his inheritance.

So no, I, as I was. I didn't suspect him right here because I didn't think there was a mystery. I thought the answer had been given, been given to us, that it was an accident, and that the whole movie was going to be us seeing how it played out and if she could keep it from the family. I was no longer thinking that there was a mystery.

See, I. Thought that there was gonna be a twist. And then I also knew at this point that Marta is obviously our protagonist that we're rooting for. And I was like, whichever family member like ends up like weaseling their way into being her ally and her confidant is probably the one who did it. Absolutely. Yep. Now meanwhile, the family members realize that if Marta can be proven that she's the murderer, then they'll regain their.

Because there's a thing called Slayer Rule. The Slayer Rule. I love it. Which has nothing to

do with the Buffy. Ah, I love it. Less. Yeah. Now they insist that the murder investigation continue because all of a sudden they're for it instead of against it. Yeah. And block confirms a suspicion of foul play. Adding that everyone is still a potential suspect. This leads to murder. Receiving a ransom note, the following morning reading. I know you did last. No. Oh, just I know what you did.

Now, if the family is all well off on their own, doesn't it make sense for Harlan to leave everything to someone who actually needs it? And I say no because the rich stay rich by making sure that the poor can never catch. we see that all the time. These days from tax evasion or people being against student loan forgiveness or not to get too political. The really, the abortion bans.

Yeah. Well, I mean, I feel like in this case, like Harlan made the right choice and he he's right like Marta's, right? That it is more about his family than it is about her. But looking at everyone in his life, the only one who really could use. Like everyone else is set. Like they'll be fine, I feel,

except for Joni. I think she went through $400,000. Like it was water.

Yes. But she'll land on her feet. She'll find like another wealthy man. Yeah. Mary.

Yeah. Yeah. Now so, and of like, I think Linda was mad because the home that, that's what I thought too, because it was about the family home, even though it's only 40 years old. Yeah. That that's been taken away and the idea that it, that it no longer belongs to the family, I think if the cash had been given away. Yeah, but the house and the publishing rights had been kept within the family.

Yeah, but it was because it was his name. And her name, exactly. Yeah. And I, I guess so. But she could have calmed down. She got a little mean. She got,

yeah, she got, but that was also because she's now the matriarch of the family. True.

Now Marta drives with ransom to the medical examiner's office only to find it up in flames and swarming with police. Oh. With this gun. That means the Blackmailer has the only evidence of. At Ransom's insistence, Marta checks her email and finds an address in time. Hmm. Blan spots the pair before they engage in a car. Chase the worst

car chase ever? Yes, because Marta's

card doesn't go fast. No, but Marta and Ransom can't evade them. Ransom's arrested after Juanetta. Harlan's mother falsely identified Mars. Him at the house climbing down the trellis, even though. She did seem coming down the trellis. We'll get to that.

Okay. Well, it's later in the script. I

think that everyone here already knows.

I know, but it's fun later. Now, if Meg hadn't made the call to Marta asking her to give back the inheritance, do you think Marta would've stayed so close to ran? that someone she didn't like or did because she felt betrayed. She re, she latched onto the only person that was trying to re reach out to her. That she felt genuinely,

I feel like Ransom weasel his way into her trajectory one way or another. And sh like at that point, even if she had Megs on her side, or sorry, Meg on her side, like she, it, it wasn't the same cuz she wasn't actually with her. We're gonna like leave the family to go see her be.

I like the name Megs. I think all people name Megs should just go by

Megs. I have one of my friends is Megs, so that's what I'm used to. I saw. I was like, yeah,

no, I like that though. I think that's a great name.

Yes. Marta drives to the address only to front. And Fran there drugged. Who's Fran? It's the housekeeper. We had all forgotten about her. Yes. Fran says, you did this before passing. Marta performs c p r on her and calls the police phone line ensuring that Fran gets to the hospital safely. Marta reveals everything Tolan, who discourages her from confessing to the family. Cuz even if she was guilty at this point, I'd be like, fuck the family You're getting away with this.

do you think that the family cares for each other or is it one of the things like coworkers at a job where you may not really like each other or anythings. but since you're all stuck in that situation together, you've developed a bond

anyway. I don't think that anyone in the family would care, like, want to be with around Joanie and her daughter. Like if it wasn't for the money and like the, the ties, cuz like her husband's dead and no one seems to tolerate her put up with her. Even when she's trying to get Linda to dance, Linda's like ignoring her and swatting her away.

So, but the reason I thi say that, yeah, because there was a scene where they were doing the will. and they, the drama hadn't happened yet. And you know, Linda and Joni, like you said, Linda doesn't care for her from the we saw in the dancing scene. Yeah. But there's a scene where they both are confused. They make eye contact and they silently have this conversation with their eyes that talks about this deeper connection, whether they like each other or not. And it just is one of those things.

of it. Yeah. And I don't know whether everyone in the family feels that way, but Linda for sure does. Cuz she's even the one, she's one of the few that was like, I'm not pulling our DA dirty family laundry out. I'm not bad Hoking my family. Everyone else was like, fuck everyone else. I'm gonna make myself innocent.

Yeah. I'm gonna put everybody else under the car or under the

bus. Now Blanc says the big mystery is why was he hired? The will was sealed. So not that the person who hired him knew the contents of the will. Somehow the person knew a crime was committed and wanted to reverse the contents of the will. They knew what Marta did. They wanted to expose it, but could not reveal how they knew the person behind it all had malicious intent. Mm-hmm. and yeah, if I was blan, I would totally protect Marta at this point, whether she was guilty or not, wouldn't you?

think. Whatever she's done and it truly was an accident on her part. Yeah. She's shown herself to be a good person.

Yes. Agreed. So how

does it all blow up? The police bring ransom to the house and place him in a private room where Blan and Marta are waiting. Blan reveals that he deduced the. And goes on to reveal what he knows. The night of the party ransom stormed out.

So Fran sent ransom a ransom letter. Yes. And then Ransom. Ransom the letter to her. Yes. I'm loving these words.

Ransom then burnt down the medical examiner's office to ensure that Harlan's blood work was destroy. Ransom. Confronted Fran and drugged her with morphine nearly killing her before destroying the original copy of the toxicology report and emailing Marta Fran's location in the hopes of fooling the police into believing Marta had murdered Fran.

Yes. And we find out to wrap up loose ends That Ransom is Ransom's. Middle name Ransom Ransom. Ransom His first name is Hugh, and he made all the staff call him Hugh because he's an asshole. When Fran was dying in the laundromat, she wasn't saying You did this. She was saying, you did this, you did this. And the most upsetting part of this entire ending is that Harlan slashed his throat for nothing. He was

perfectly fine and committed suicide to save his friend. Yeah. Or, yeah, he slit his throat to save his friend, and because the morphine overdose, he probably just, gone to sleep and died. Yeah. Might have been a little bit painful, but yeah, he committed suicide. He would've lived, she had just accidentally given him

two, two months. Well, no, it was the right amount

actually, wasn't it? Oh, yeah, it was. She gave him the exact right amount of both things. Yeah, he would've been 100%

fine. Now Marta receives a call from the hospital and tells the group that Fran is alive forcing ransom to admit his crimes before angrily vowing revenge and legal recourse on Marta. At the last moment, Marta vomits disgustingly fabulously on ransom chunks, chunks revealing that she had lied and that Fran actually died at the hospital. Enraged that he'd been tricked into admitting murder and a. Ransom attempts to stab Marta with one of the knives from the giant knife circle thing.

finds what Richard thought was a blank letter from her. And Richard had discarded it. She smiles, holds the letter up to the flame, which reveals the writing part of a game that she and her father used to have when exchanging notes. And now she knows what Richard did with the affair and we know that he had to sign a prenup. He's fucked.

Yes. And Manuel knew from the beginning that Marta was involved because he saw the blood spot on her shoe for the first time he met her. I'm sorry, I told you that earlier. Everyone who's already watched the movie to hear this discussion and he says that Marta is a good person and she won by playing her way, I should help them right? and then he says, I have my

opinion, but I have a feeling you'll follow your heart.

I love that accent, babe. Thank you. Can you do that later? I can. Thank you. Now as ransom's taken away the remaining thrombi family, look up at the mansion's balcony to see Martin sipping from Harlan's signature coffee cup with a label. My house, my rules, my coffee, the end. Ugh. What are your thoughts on how it all wrapped up?

Amazing. I love. Marta was innocent the whole time. I hate that Erland committed suicide for no reason. Yeah. Other than like, I know

he did it outta, he did it for the reason of the situation, but that he would've been fine. Yeah. But the, yeah. There is something touching about, like, the thing that touched me the most was the fact that like, yeah, of course if you've been a nurse for that long, you don't, you don't need to always look at the bottles. Like, she just instinctively knew the, the

morphine was a little thicker than the other drug. Yeah. Ransom is obviously extraordinarily intelligent to put all of this together, but too lazy and entitled to use that intelligence in his own life to try to create what is grandfather did or his mother did, which is really

disappointing. Yeah. So what do you think happens after this with everyone? Now that we know that the sequel is a different.

I think Marta pays for Meg's schooling. Yes. I think she makes sure that she gets her education. I, I think she probably cuts off Walt and his family because Walt threatened, threatened her. He threatened the

worst

towards her. He threatened her mother. Yeah. I think. Linda, divorces Richard, and he gets nothing. He's penniless. Yep. And his horror wants nothing to do with him now that he doesn't have money. Ransom's in jail. Mm-hmm. And Joni, I don't know if you know, Joni is so harmless that. Marta takes pity on her maybe and gives her an allowance, not like she had before.

Mm-hmm. I think that Joni later on took that last check and vacationed at the White Lotus where she fell in love, genuine love with an older rich man who took care of her for the rest of her life. Ah-huh. But yes, I love all of these characters, even the awful ones. Yeah. And it was a good ride of a movie.

Very much so. And. We'd love to hear what you all have to think about

it. You can do that by emailing us at happy life pod gmail.com

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