Knives Out is a funny murder mystery set in a large New England house in 2019. Crime writer Harlan Thrombey dies after his birthday party, and private detective Benoit Blanc questions his angry family and the household staff. Harlan’s nurse, Marta Cabrera, becomes Blanc’s helper because she knew Harlan well and has no clear reason to want him dead. The case turns into a tense fight over truth, money, family loyalty, and who deserves a place in the house.
The movie gives special weight to Marta’s life as a Latina nurse whose mother is undocumented. The family argues about immigration, border rules, children in cages, and whether America belongs to Americans. The relatives call themselves self-made and loving, but they threaten Marta’s family when Harlan leaves his fortune to her. The story treats Marta’s honesty and care as better than the family’s wealth, political labels, and claims to deserve the estate.
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Was our 74% Woke rating accurate?
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Knives Out.
Woke representation / casting
Marta is played by Cuban actor Ana de Armas and becomes the movie's main hero. The film makes her Latin American background and her family's immigration status part of the main conflict. Interviews frame the central Latina role as unusual and important for representation. The wider cast is not an obvious one-of-each group, so the signal is strong in one lead role rather than dominant across the cast.
38%
Woke political dialogue
The family argues about immigration, children in cages, race, and whether America belongs to Americans. The relatives label one another an SJW, an alt-right troll, and a liberal snowflake during loud group scenes. The family later uses Marta's undocumented mother as leverage to protect the inheritance. The dialogue is concentrated in a few scenes, but the political fight helps drive the central conflict.
45%
Identity-driven story themes
The story makes Marta's identity as a Latina nurse and her mother's immigration status central to the danger she faces. The wealthy family threatens deportation when Harlan leaves Marta the entire fortune, house, and business. The ending presents the immigrant caregiver as the honest person who receives the place held by the rich family. The movie also links the inheritance fight to class privilege and the idea that America belongs only to people already inside it.
67%
Western institutional / cultural critique
The film attacks inherited wealth by showing Linda call herself self-made after her father gave her a million-dollar loan. The family calls the house an ancestral home even though Harlan bought it, which mocks claims of ownership based on birth and family history. The story also exposes wealthy liberals and conservatives as selfish when money is at risk. The film targets class privilege and cultural entitlement, not Christianity or every Western institution.
38%
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. The movie uses original characters and a new murder case. It does not change established characters, canon, or historical events.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Right-leaning accounts called the film a woke outrage movie and an anti-Trump immigration message dressed as a mystery. Other posts complained that Marta inherits over a white family and called the result anti-white propaganda. Tim Pool pushed back that the movie was not simple pro-immigrant propaganda and showed liberals acting badly too. The reaction was notable but scattered, with no clear boycott or organized review-bombing campaign in the supplied X pass.
38%
Creator track record context
Rian Johnson has a cached woke score of 71/100 and is the film's main creative voice. Johnson said he wanted a 2019 mystery to engage with Trump-era politics, and he designed Marta as an immigrant outsider who would become the real main character. Ana de Armas described the central Latina role as unusual and linked the film to better representation. The other listed crew members have low cached scores and no recorded activist history.
64%
Production
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