Rian Johnson says Knives Out’s Martha and Poker Face’s Charlie have an interesting connection

One of the most useful tools an antagonist can use in any story is lying to hide their intentions from the characters. However, some characters will not allow this, because. Ryan Johnson demonstrated in his recent films and TV shows. During a recent interview with Deadlinethe director talked about how Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas) from Get the knives and Charlie CaleNatasha Lyonne) from Poker Face have similar abilities that are almost reversed considering how both characters go above and beyond when someone is lying. Here’s what Johnson had to say about the abilities of his main characters:

Well, I mean, in both cases, they are mechanisms, but they are two completely opposite ends. Whereas with the character of Martha it was an obstacle. There was something that made life difficult for her. This was a character that we care about, and the only way to get out of a terrible situation is to lie, and you deprive him of the opportunity to lie to the detective.

So that was an obstacle, whereas in this case it’s the other way around. It’s something that will replace them with detectives, and that’s their job. And that’s what explains to the viewers why she’s especially good at it, to give a little bridge to why she continues to delve into it every week. Now we still - and this is a joyful thing for me, because this is one of the hallmarks of the detective TV show that I loved as a child - we require support from the audience.

In Charlie’s case, she can always tell when someone is lying to her face, which might seem like the perfect ability for someone in the process of solving a murder, but that might not be the case. Even if she can tell when someone doesn’t reveal the truth to her, Charlie won’t be able to guess what really happened based only on the fact that some information is missing. She had to take extra steps to find out who was the dangerous person around her when Poker Face premiere earlier this year. And that skill was the opposite of what happened to Cabrera.

During the first Get the knives secrets, Martha was horrified to learn that the man under her care, Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) died suddenly. When Detective Benoit BlancDaniel Craig) wanted to get to the bottom of the matter, he realized that Martha had a medical condition that caused her to vomit every time she told a lie. This came into play during the film’s climax, when she had to hide the truth from the prime suspect in the case, Ransom (Chris Evans). Although her condition was only affected by the lies she told, Martha found herself in the same position as Poker Face main character.

Blanc had to solve a second case

Thanks to the huge success that the first film received, two new Get the knives parts entered development, with the first sequel, glass bow, released in December 2022. Although this story had nothing to do with the ability to lie, its focus was still on the detective’s intelligence as the main force behind solving the murder. On top of that, Benoit Blanc always needs the kind heart of a witty friend who can do what he simply cannot. In this case, it was Helen Brand (Janelle Monae) turn to approach and face the deceitful manipulator who wanted to eliminate her.

You can check out the Collider interview with Johnson below: