Joni Thrombey

Joni Thrombey, played by Toni Collette, is a character in Knives Out (2019). She is the Neil Thrombey's widow and Meg Thrombey's mother. Joni is a famous lifestyle guru and runs a failing skin care company called Flam. She is a suspect in Harlan's death.

Character
Joni is described as a tall, striking woman who wears boho chic clothing. She presents herself as self-sufficient, but like most of the family, she relies on Harlan Thrombey, her father-in-law, for financial support. She receives a yearly allowance from Harlan but has been double-dipping Meg's tuition payments. She stole $100,000 every year for four years. Upon discovering the theft, Harlan ends her yearly allowance and removes her from the inheritance. Benoit Blanc calls Joni desperate after finding out about her financial issues and suggests her desperation gave her motive to kill Harlan.

Career
Joni is the owner of Flam. Flam is a skin care company that also promotes a total lifestyle. Joni describes the company philosophy as the "balance of opposites...self sufficiency with an acknowledgment of human need" in her initial conversation with the investigators. At first glance, nothing seems amiss with the company, but Blanc later uncovers product issues. He ordered a snail jelly moisturizer from Flam, which gave his sensitive skin a rash. He searches for similar consumer complaints and finds many similar stories. Further digging uncovered Flam's financial problems. The company was broke, and Joni kept it afloat using the money she stole from Harlan.

Relationship with Harlan Thrombey
Little is known about Joni's relationship with Harlan Thrombey outside of their financial relationship. Early in the film, she credits Harlan with helping her and Meg through difficult times. This is a possible reference to Neil's death.

Relationship with the Thrombey Family
Joni's relationship with the Thrombey family is antagonistic.


 * Neil Thrombey (husband; deceased)
 * Meg Thrombey (daughter)
 * Harlan Thrombey (father-in-law; deceased)
 * Mrs. Thrombey (mother-in-law; deceased)
 * Linda Drysdale (née Thrombey) (sister-in-law)
 * Walt Thrombey (brother-in-law)
 * Richard Drysdale (brother-in-law)
 * Donna Thrombey (sister-in-law)
 * Jacob Thrombey (nephew)
 * Ransom Drysdale (nephew)

Trivia

 * A deleted scene indicates that a skin cream from Joni's company (which Blanc himself used) has been reported for causing rashes.