A tweet in my timeline early today from Joshua Conkel, a writer and director in Los Angeles, caught my eye.

I want a Knives Out movie where Benoit and his husband are on a vacation together and Benoit is like, “I won’t solve any mysteries on this vacation, I promise” but then he has to solve a mystery without his husband realizing he’s doing it. Slapstick ensues.

Joshua Conkel on Twitter

Hot on the heels of Glass Onion: A Knives out Mystery, the sequel to the original KnivesOut movie on cinema release for just a week in November and now available on Netflix, I found this idea for such a new mystery quite compelling.

And so I asked ChatGPT for some wisdom. Here’s what they – and surely it is a they for this – created (here’s the whole screenshot of the actual ChatGPT output):

Me:

Write a treatment for a Knives Out movie where Benoit and his husband are on a vacation together and Benoit is like, “I won’t solve any mysteries on this vacation, I promise” but then he has to solve a mystery without his husband realizing he’s doing it. Slapstick ensues.

ChatGPT:

Title: “Knives Out: Vacation Mystery”

Logline: Benoit and his husband go on a much-needed vacation to relax and disconnect, but when a mysterious crime occurs at their vacation spot, Benoit can’t resist the urge to solve the case without letting his husband know. Hilarity ensues as Benoit tries to balance solving the mystery and keeping his promise to his husband.

Synopsis: Benoit and his husband, David, have been working nonstop and are in desperate need of a vacation. They decide to go to a beautiful beach resort to relax and disconnect from their hectic lives. As soon as they arrive, Benoit makes a promise to David that he won’t solve any mysteries or get involved in any crime-solving during their vacation.

However, things take a turn when a valuable necklace goes missing from one of the guest rooms. The resort’s manager asks for Benoit’s help, knowing of his reputation as a skilled detective. Benoit can’t resist the temptation to solve the case, but he doesn’t want to break his promise to David.

As Benoit secretly investigates the case, David becomes suspicious of his strange behavior. Benoit tries to play it off as just being paranoid, but the more he investigates, the more complicated the case becomes. With the help of the resort staff and some unexpected allies, Benoit must navigate the web of clues and red herrings to find the culprit, all while trying to keep his husband in the dark.

As Benoit gets closer to the truth, the stakes get higher and the antics get wilder. In the end, Benoit manages to solve the case and keep his promise to David, who is none the wiser. The couple returns home from their vacation with a hilarious story to tell and a newfound appreciation for each other’s talents.

Not bad at all! Certainly the basis for taking this as a foundation and developing it further.

And I see Hercule Poirot and some clear broader influence from Agatha Christie here – no surprise really, given the Christie-eque whodunnit nature of the two movies currently made and which have enjoyed great popularity.

I’d love to see if or how anything happens with Conkel’s idea and this AI-stimulated treatment.