Knives Out’s Thrombey Family Tree Explained

WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Knives Out (2019).

Knives Out follows the Thrombey family, and all the members are suspicious after the head of the family, Harlan Thrombey, dies. The Thrombey family gathers to attend Harlan’s 85th birthday party, but things get worse when the wealthy patriarch is found dead and the Detective in charge, Benoit Blanc, suspects foul play. In the film, almost all the members of the Thrombey are suspicious and seem to be hiding something, and their connection is vital to the story, as they try to backstab each other, lie, and even commit crimes to try to get the contents of his will.

Knives Out premiered in 2019, and it follows an all-star ensemble cast in a classic whodunit. Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson wrote and directed the movie, and it received both critical and commercial acclaim. This allowed the filmmaker to tell other whodunit stories, starting with Glass Onion. The main cast of the first film, the Thrombeys, was not part of Glass Onion‘s cast of characters. However, the razor-sharp Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) returned for a new mystery with a new ensemble. Knives Out was all about family, and understanding how they are related is crucial for figuring out their dynamic. It also makes it easier to understand Knives Out’s ending.

Harlan Thrombey

Head of the Family

Christopher Plummer takes over the role of the family’s patriarch, Harlan Thrombey, in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out. Harlan is a best-selling mystery author, who has made quite a fortune over the years and is kind and supportive. However, following his death, it turns out he wasn’t as generous to his family as they had imagined. With a flair for the dramatic, Harlan decides to leave everything to his kind nurse, Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), writing the Thrombeys out of his will, hoping they will succeed without relying on his money. He has three children (one deceased), and a deceased wife.

Linda Drysdale

Harlan’s Eldest Daughter

Harlan’s eldest child is Linda, his only daughter, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. She has a real estate business she started with a loan from her father, and seems to be closest to him compared to her other siblings. Linda is ruthless and the type of person who would brag about being self-made, purposefully forgetting about her father’s help. She has a husband, Richard, with whom she runs her company, and finds out he is cheating on her thanks to Harlan’s invisible ink letter. The two share a son, Ransom.

Richard Drysdale

Linda’s Husband

Richard, played by Don Johnson, is Harlan’s son-in-law, as he’s married to Linda, and also father to Ransom. He helps Linda with her company, although he has no say in ownership because of their prenup. During Harlan’s 85th birthday party, the patriarch confronts Richard about his infidelity and gives him an ultimatum to tell Linda. Richard is a conservative, opposed to illegal immigration, and very entitled. He also seems to have a poor temper, as he yells at his family a lot, and also tries to bribe the police at the end of the film to help his son.

Hugh “Ransom” Drysdale

Linda’s Son

Chris Evans plays Hugh “Ransom” Drysdale, the main antagonist of Knives Out with a liking for sweaters. He is Linda and Richard’s only son, and he grew up to be the black sheep in the Thrombey family. Ransom is eccentric, arrogant, selfish, and spoiled, and he doesn’t try to hide his flaws from anyone. He can also be quite charming and persuasive when he wants to. Ransom decides to kill Harlan after he finds out Harlan plans to write everyone out of his will. He almost gets away with murder, but it turns out he isn’t that resourceful, and he is caught in the end.

Joni Thrombey

Harlan’s deceased son Neil’s widow

Joni Thrombey, played by Toni Collette, is Harlan’s daughter-in-law. She was married to Harlan’s deceased son, Neil, who died before the events in Knives Out, with whom she shares Meg. Although she is not related to Harlan by blood, she feels entitled to his money and expects him to pay for her daughter’s studies. She is an influencer with a flair for theatrics, and she is also the only other person, aside from Ransom, to have committed a crime during the movie, as she embezzled thousands of dollars from Harlan, and posed as her daughter’s tuition money

Megan “Meg” Thrombey

Neil and Joni’s daughter

Katherine Langford plays Megan “Meg” Thrombey, Joni and Neil’s daughter and Harlan’s granddaughter. She initially seems to be the only good Thrombey, as she seems kind, progressive, and cares about others. However, when push comes to shove, Meg proves she is truly a Thrombey. She reveals Marta’s mother doesn’t have documents and gives her family ammunition to blackmail Marta when she risks losing Harlan’s tuition money, making her as morally gray as everyone else in the family.

Walter “Walt” Thrombey

Harlan’s Son

Walter “Walt” Thrombey, played by Michael Shannon, is Harlan’s youngest son and the least mature of them all. He is also the only one working with him, as he is the CEO of Harlan’s publishing company. Walt is greedy and constantly tries to get more money. He pushes Harlan to agree to let Netflix adapt his novels to get more wealth, forcing his father to fire him from the job because of it. He is married to Donna, and they have one child, Jacob.

Donna Thrombey

Walt’s Wife

The other person who married into the Thrombey family next to Richard is Donna, Harlan’s daughter-in-law and Walt’s wife, played by Riki Lindhome. Donna is not a major character in the movie, and, while she doesn’t seem to be as terrible and entitled as the rest of the Thrombeys, she clearly enjoys the comfort the family’s wealth brings, and is as alt-right as her husband. She is also Jacob’s mother, although she doesn’t seem very aware of her son’s political views and online activities.

Jacob Thrombey

Walt’s Son

Jacob Thrombey is Harlan’s grandson, Walt and Donna’s son, played by Jaeden Martell. He is an alt-right troll and even Richard thinks he is a Nazi. He doesn’t pose that many issues in the movie, but he is always on his phone, trolling strangers on the internet. Even during his grandfather’s birthday party, he spends most of the time in the bathroom, with his activities being exposed by Benoit Blanc later in the movie. He and his cousin, Meg, don’t get along due to their political views.

Wanetta “Great Nana” Thrombey

K Callan

Possibly the only innocent person in the Thrombey family is Wanetta “Great Nana” Thrombey, played by K Callan. Given that Harlan is generally a good person, she seems to have raised it well, although Knives Out doesn’t reveal much about her younger years. She is the oldest member of the Thrombey family and treats Marta and Detective Benoit with kindness and respect. Since she’s mostly the quiet observer, the family doesn’t seem to pay her much attention.