Composer Nathan Johnson gives each of the Knives Out films a unique sound.
As Johnson explained on stage at Deadline’s Sound & Screen: Film event, the 2019 original used a string quartet to capture the claustrophobia of a New England mansion. Glass Onion opened up with an orchestra to reflect the Greece location. In the new Wake Up Dead Man, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) investigates the death of a monsignor seconds after his last sermon.
“For this one, it’s darker,” Johnson said. “We’re going Edgar Allan Poe. We’re going gothic.”
Johnson, the cousin of Knives Out writer-director Rian Johnson, explained how he delivered that musically.
“Rian really wanted me to push into a bit more of this underlying dread,” the composer said. “The very first thing you hear in the movie and first thing we heard tonight is all the strings just scratch tone. Then they resolve from that nails-on-a-chalkboard sound into just a single pure tone. That represents this jewel through the movie.”
Benoit uncovers the mystery with an 11-minute violin concerto playing under him, but we’ll have to wait until the movie hits theaters and then Netflix to hear the piece in its entirety.
“The little secret with detective fiction [is] the detective is the lead but also not the main character,” Johnson said. “Each movie, we find our way into it through his sidekick. Blanc does have a couple motifs that peak their heads up through the different movies. I’m finding all new things to explore with the new characters.”
The Johnsons grew up making movies together since Nathan was 7 and Rian was 10. By the time they made feature films, they shared a shorthand.
“He doesn’t beat around the bush,” Nathan said. “If it’s wrong, he quickly tells me but then we quickly move on. I also start really early on on his movies so there’s a lot of time for me to go down rabbit holes that are not going to be the right thing to eventually find what’s right.”
Johnson has scored all of his cousin’s movies except for one.
“We let John Williams have a go on Star Wars,” he joked. “I think he’s got a future.”
Check out the panel video above.