The basic concept for the film was developed by Johnson after he made Brick in 2005. He wanted to make an Agatha Christie-inspired murder mystery film, but his next project became Star Wars: The Last Jedi. After finishing his press tour for that film, he spent seven months writing the script for Knives Out.

"No Sudden Move" is a 2021 crime thriller film directed by Steven Soderbergh. The movie is set in 1954 Detroit and revolves around a group of criminals who are hired for a seemingly simple job. However, their plan takes an unexpected turn, leading to a complex web of deception and danger. The story explores themes of greed, betrayal, and the consequences of being caught in a high-stakes criminal conspiracy.

Salt movie initially had a powerful charge of positive energy given by the director Philip Noyce, who is one of the best in the quite competitive market of the political thrillers. In "Salt," he managed to show off their skills in full force and create a frenzied pace in which the main character has to move. Another important component of the film perfectness is a vivid visual artwork. So, the Angelina Jolie's protagonist character forced to change appearance, as a result he consistently appears before us in different character types. It positively affects the dynamics of the film, bringing in scenes lots of action energy and bright colors. If we talk about the place of film in the Jolie filmography, it should be noted that the "Salt" is another milestone in the career of the actress in the field of action genre.

Everly is a 2014 action thriller directed by Joe Lynch, starring Salma Hayek as the titular character. Everly is a prostitute working for the crime lord Taiko (Hiroyuki Watanabe), working secretly to bring down his organization with the help of the police. While trapped inside her apartment, Everly faces off with hired killers and even other prostitutes who have been promised a bounty if they are able to kill her. The film features music by Bear McCreary, who did the soundtrack for the rebooted version of the Battlestar Galactica television series. Lynch originally wrote the story while listening to the soundtrack for the second season of the show. Early reviews of the film have been mixed to positive, and compared to the early Die Hard movies or the blood-spattered epic of Kill Bill. The film plays toward assassin and mafia tropes and offers little in the way of plot, but plenty in the way of action.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is a 1999 crime film directed by Jim Jarmusch. The movie tells the story of a hitman named Ghost Dog, who follows the ancient code of the samurai and is bound to his mafia boss, Louie. After a job goes wrong, Ghost Dog becomes a target and must fight for survival while staying true to his samurai principles.

Brad Pitt plays Jackie Cogan in Andrew Dominik's crime thriller Killing Them Softly, a mobster whose task is to investigate an impudent murder which happened during the illegal poker game organized by mafia bosses. To have a holistic perception of the movie atmosphere just mix-up in your imagination The Sopranos, GoodFellas, Pulp Fiction and put them in a Bush/Obama post-crisis America of last half of 2008; ladle it with some thick layer of political dressing made of pragmatic thoughts and infallible Jackie Cogan's phrases about what happens with people when recession comes and who is responsible for all of this mess. Killing Them Softly is loosely based on George V. Higgins novel Cogan's Trade which he wrote in the period of time 1972 – 1974, when he worked as lawyer, specializing in crime processes involving mafia complicity. This fact leads us to believe that he knows a lot about the shady inside world of gangster's "paradise" which served as a perfectly sharpened background for Andrew Dominik's movie. Filmed for that point in post-Katrina New Orleans Killing Them Softly immerses us in the abyss of despair and hopelessness which enveloped everyone's minds and souls of in America, regardless of occupation – even for thorough-paced gangster – it's time to think about what's wrong with this world. The movie was nominated for the Palme d'Or at 65th Cannes Film Festival in 2012.