The revival of the glitzy, glamorous, star-studded murder mystery reignited three years ago with the release of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out. That film was a hit with critics and general viewers and did good business for Lionsgate with over $300 million worldwide. Fans clamored for more of Benoit Blanc, pleas that were soon met with the promise of not one but two sequels.
Courtesy of Netflix © 2022
The first of those sequels is Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Where Knives Out was a moody and cozy whodunnit, Glass Onion dons a much different aesthetic. The mystery begins as a game and our host, tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) invites his best friends to take a break from the pandemic lockdown with a weekend on his private Mediterranean island. The ensemble includes a socialite, a social media influencer, a politician, a scientist and an entrepreneur. Inadvertently crashing the Fake Mystery Party is our favorite gentleman sleuth, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), whose presence is unexpected and confusing. At least until someone dies for real.
Brighter, sparklier, and funnier than its predecessor, Benoit Blanc’s newest case is everything a sequel should be. It’s bigger. It’s bolder. We learn new things about Benoit. Not too many things, just enough to keep us interested in who he is as a person with more going on in his life than simply showing up and solving murders. Sometimes he sits at home in a bubble bath and wishes for a murder to solve instead.
John Wilson/Netflix © 2022
In addition to being real-life movie stars, the collection of characters are all famous in this fictional world too. Norton’s Elon Musk-inspired eccentric (and irritating) rich guy is the tie that binds them all together and he thrives on it. Dave Bautista, who really is great at comedy, has never been funnier than here as Duke Cody, a rich and popular influencer who lives with his mother. Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson and Kathryn Hahn are all so perfect in their respective roles that it’s like each was written specifically and only for them. And then there is Janelle Monáe, obviously a gifted performer, outshining everyone around her. In a cast of standouts, she rises above all of them.
Glass Onion is most heavily influenced by The Last of Sheila, the 1973 Herbert Ross film co-written by Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins. But it is in no way a remake of that film. Much like the puzzle box invitation Miles Bron sends to his friends, Rian Johnson’s screenplay unfolds, each new layer revealing a few answers but always more questions. Johnson knows how to tell a story and he is particularly adept at crafting a good, juicy mystery. One that gives us so much more than a victim and a murderer. He constructs an entire complex ecosystem of social standing, clout, and the precarious nature of such environments.
Where Knives Out was a story about wealth and class, Glass Onion is interested in exploring the “eat the rich!” mentality from the inside. What happens when they turn on each other? How do wealthy, famous brats handle it when they fight among themselves and realize they can’t trust one another? Just like an onion, there is plenty to see on the surface, but so much more to behold when you start to peel back the layers. The first film was great for so many reasons. The sequel serves as further proof that Rian Johnson is a whip smart filmmaker with a particular gift for this very specific subgenre. It’s hard not to compare the Johnson mysteries to Branagh’s adaptations of Agatha Christie’s beloved and timeless novels. Beyond style and originality, they are set apart by Johnson’s ability to bring real-life implications and present-day circumstances to a genre many thought we might never see again.
That he did it once was lucky. That he’s done it again is genius. Glass Onion is deliciously clever and fun, a holiday feast both for the eyes and the mind.