Knives Out (Alternate Cast)

My alternate cast for Knives Out.

Directed By: Drew Goddard

Plot
The family of Harlan Thrombey, a wealthy mystery novelist, attends his 85th birthday party at his Massachusetts mansion. The next morning, Harlan's housekeeper, Fran, finds him dead with his throat slit. Lieutenant Elliot and Trooper Wagner believe Harlan's death to be suicide, but private detective Benoit Blanc is anonymously hired to investigate. Blanc learns Harlan's relationships with his various family members were strained: On the day of his death, Harlan threatened to expose his son-in-law Richard for cheating on his daughter Linda, cut off his daughter-in-law Joni's allowance for stealing from him, fired his son Walt from his publishing company, and had an altercation with his grandson Ransom.

Unknown to Blanc, Harlan's nurse, Marta Cabrera, accidentally mixed up his medications, making her think she overdosed him with morphine, and was unable to find the antidote, leaving Harlan only minutes to live. Wanting to save Marta's family from scrutiny (her mother being an undocumented immigrant), Harlan gave her instructions to create a false alibi and then slit his own throat. Harlan's elderly mother saw Marta carrying out his instructions but mistook her for Ransom. Marta cannot lie without vomiting, so she gives accurate but incomplete answers when questioned. She agrees to assist in Blanc's investigation and conceals evidence of her actions as they search the property. When Harlan's will is read, to everyone's shock, Marta is the sole beneficiary. Ransom helps her escape the family's wrath, but he manipulates her into confessing to him; he offers his help in exchange for a share of the inheritance. The other Thrombeys try to persuade Marta to renounce the inheritance; Walt threatens to expose her mother's immigration status.

Marta receives a blackmail note with a partial photocopy of Harlan's toxicology report. She and Ransom drive to the medical examiner's office, but it has burned down. Marta receives an email proposing a rendezvous with the blackmailer. Blanc and the police spot them, and after a brief car chase, Ransom is arrested; Blanc explains that Harlan's mother saw Ransom climbing down from Harlan's room the night he died. At the rendezvous, Marta finds Fran, drugged. She performs CPR and calls an ambulance. She confesses to Blanc, though Ransom has already informed on her, and she decides to tell the family that she caused Harlan's death, which would invalidate the will under the slayer rule.

Back at the mansion, Marta finds a copy of the full toxicology report in Fran's cannabis stash. She gives it to Blanc without reading it herself, and Blanc sees it shows little morphine in Harlan's system and interrupts Marta before she can confess. Blanc reveals his deductions to the detectives, Marta, and Ransom: After Ransom learned Harlan was leaving everything to Marta, he swapped the contents of Harlan's medication vials and stole the antidote so that Marta would kill Harlan and thus become ineligible to claim the inheritance. But Marta actually gave Harlan the correct medication, subconsciously recognizing it by its viscosity, and she only thought she had poisoned him after reading the label. When the death was reported as a suicide, Ransom anonymously hired Blanc to expose Marta. Fran saw Ransom tampering with the crime scene and sent him the blackmail note. After he realized Marta was not responsible for Harlan's death, but Marta still thought she was, he forwarded the letter to Marta and burned down the medical examiner's office to destroy evidence of her innocence. He overdosed Fran with morphine, intending for Marta to get caught with Fran's corpse.

After a call from the hospital, Marta tells Ransom that Fran has survived and will implicate him, causing Ransom to confess angrily to tricking her into killing Harlan. Just then, Marta vomits on him; Fran is actually dead. Realizing he has been caught, as Wagner recorded the conversation, he attacks her with a knife from Harlan's collection, which turns out to be a retractable stage knife. With Ransom's murder confession recorded and having witnessed his attempted murder of Marta, the police arrest him. Linda finds a note from Harlan about her husband's adultery. Blanc tells Marta he suspected early on that she played a part in Harlan's death, noting a tiny blood spot on her shoe. As Ransom is taken into custody, Marta watches from the balcony of her mansion with the rest of the family gathered below.

Cast

 * Hugh Jackman as Benoit Blanc, a private detective
 * Ryan Gosling as Hugh Ransom Drysdale, Linda and Richard's son
 * Eiza Gonzalez as Marta Cabrera, Harlan's nurse
 * Michelle Pfeiffer as Linda Drysdale, Harlan's eldest daughter
 * Jon Hamm as Walt Thrombey, Harlan's youngest son
 * Michael Keaton as Richard Drysdale, Linda's husband
 * Sarah Paulson as Joni Thrombey, the widow of Harlan's deceased son Neil
 * Daniel Kaluuya as Detective Lieutenant Elliott
 * Maya Hawke as Meg Thrombey, Joni's daughter
 * Jack Dylan Grazer as Jacob Thrombey, Walt's son
 * Michael Caine as Harlan Thrombey, an 85-year old best-selling crime novelist.
 * Linda Cardellini as Donna Thrombey, Walt's wife
 * Olivia Colman as Fran, Harlan's housekeeper
 * Barry Levinson as Alan Stevens, Harlan's counsel
 * Julie Andrews as Wanetta "Great Nana" Thrombey, Harlan's mother
 * Max Greenfield as Trooper Wagner, a police officer
 * Christopher Lloyd as Mr. Proofroc, a security guard
 * Marlene Forte as Mrs. Cabrera, Marta's mother
 * Shyrley Rodriguez as Alice Cabrera, Marta's sister
 * Kerry Frances as Sally, Alan's assistant
 * Ryan Reynolds as Detective Hardrock (voice cameo)

Rating
Rated PG-13.