— If the meds were switched, then when I got them mixed up, I… I accidentally switched them back, so… I gave Harlan… — The correct doses, yes. But not accidentally.
KNIVES OUT (2019) dir. Rian Johnson
I love this moment, not just because of the twist, but also because Marta has been dying the whole movie with not only fear and grief, but guilt at having caused the death of her patient, her friend.
For Benoit to take the time to reassure that this was not her fault, in way that is so kind and so clear, was lovely.
“You are a good nurse.” You can tell when he says that the he truly understands what is paining her the most. Just beautiful.
I have so much love for this film, and for the moment following this where Benoit tells her that, if Harlan had listened to her, he would still be alive. The blame is taken from her, in the kindest possible way, by someone she trusts. After all the goalpost moving and ‘ah, gotcha!’ and obsession with spoilers in cinema over the last decade, with characterisation abandoned and plotlines left unresolved, knives out is a kind film. It isn’t obsessed with tricking you or catching you out, just wants you along for the ride
[Image description: eight gifs of Benoit Blanc and Marta talking towards the end of Knives Out, as well as flashbacks to Marta pulling out the bottles and twisting one into place confidently.
Benoit holds up a bottle of morphine and asks, “How’d you know this was the morphine?”
Marta: I just knew.
Benoit: You knew because there is the slightest, almost imperceptible differences of tincture and viscosity between the two liquids. You knew because you’d done it a hundred times. You gave him the correct medication.
Marta looks shocked and hopeful. Benoit finishes, “Because you are a good nurse.”
End image description]
