Rian Johnson has a very successful franchise on his hands with the Knives Out movies, but his true mystery masterpiece came years before with his feature-length debut film, Brick. He has been a polarizing director, thanks to his work on the Star Wars franchise; however, Johnson’s directed movies stand up well against most of his contemporaries.

Johnson is currently working hard on the Knives Out trilogy, which includes its third movie, scheduled for release in 2025 (Wake Up ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Man). However, he made other great movies, including the heist movie The Brothers Bloom, the sci-fi thriller Looper, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. However, his debut film, Brick, remains his underrated masterpiece.

Rian Johnson Created A Perfect Old-School Noir With Brick

In 2005, Rian Johnson released his debut feature-length film, Brick. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as high school student Brendan Frye​​​​​​. The film begins with Brendan receiving a call from his ex-girlfriend, Emily (Emile de Ravin), asking for help. When she winds up ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, Brendan sets out to find out who killed her.

The entire setup of Brick is a gimmick, but it works great and delivers what ended up being an old-school noir mystery. The gimmick is that Brick takes place in a modern-day high school, but every character is a noir mystery archetype. They even speak with distinct slang that is a throwback to Dashiell Hammett novels and movies like The Maltese Falcon.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the most recognizable member of the cast but everyone delivers on their parts, with very difficult dialogue that becomes a character on its own. The movie was a great deal of fun, paying homage to what came before with a fresh new mystery. Brick proved that Johnson was perfect for the more Agatha Christie-style mysteries in Knives Out.

Brick Showed Johnson’s Mastery For Throwback Mysteries Before Knives Out

Rian Johnson Moved From Dashiell Hammett To Agatha Christie

After proving he could make a hard-boiled noir movie similar to the work of Dashiell Hammett, yet with the twist of putting it in high school, Rian Johnson set his sights on Agatha Christie. However, instead of the kindly Miss Marple or the logic-driven Hercule Poirot, Johnson created the aloof yet brilliant Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig).

In Knives Out and its sequel Glᴀss Onion, Johnson took on the locked-room mysteries and had master detective Benoit Blanc figure out who the killer was, while dealing with an eclectic cast of suspects. It was what Christie did best in her novels, and no one has done it better than Johnson in recent years, and this includes Kenneth Branagh’s straight Christie adaptations.

However, he proved his ability to recreate the old-school mysteries with Brick. Unlike Knives Out, which recreates the mystery style with great characters, Brick showed Johnson utilizing everything that made old-school noir movies great, something no one really does anymore. Brick proved Rian Johnson was a filmmaker headed for a great career.