A fun romp that I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of sooner (thanks owed to The Big Picture’s 1982 Movie Draft pod) and it checks all of my boxes: a simultaneous love letter and pastiche to the murder mystery. It is obvious in retrospect that Knives Out owes a lot to Deathtrap, as does (much less successfully) Skin.

Deathtrap is a play, and it feels perhaps unfair to criticize the performances for being too theatrical: Dyan Cannon and Irene Worth are game and funny but do not feel real in any sense of the word, which works well in the comedic scenes and less so when Deathtrap wants you to take it earnestly as a thriller. (SImilarly, Caine is great in the first third of the movie as someone Going Through Things, and then every aspect of his role recedes into the obvious.) But Reeve — who I don’t think I’ve ever seen as someone other than Superman — is the star of the show, with a performance that wins and convinces every step of the way.

(Also, a great ending, even more than a good ending.)

★★★