Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Year: 2022
Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Daniel Craig, Dave Bautista, Kathryn Hahn, Kate Hudson, Janelle Monáe, Edward Norton & Leslie Odom Jr.
Runtime: 139 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 09/01/23
Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Daniel Craig, Dave Bautista, Kathryn Hahn, Kate Hudson, Janelle Monáe, Edward Norton & Leslie Odom Jr.
Runtime: 139 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 09/01/23
When Knives Out released in 2019 it felt like a breath of fresh air to the murder mystery genre, one that had for many years felt stagnated in its old ways with the same few detectives and cases cropping up every now and again for another spin. But with a new detective in Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc and a mystery that genuinely had a new twist every few minutes, Knives Out immediately became a modern classic of the murder mystery genre.
It didn’t take long for sequels to be greenlit and Netflix snapped up the opportunity to produce the first two of them, and so the time has come for Detective Blanc to put his skills to use once more for another Knives Out mystery.
The COVID-19 lockdown is taking its toll on everyone, including Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) who finds himself shutting himself away in his bathroom most days. But when his services are called upon to attend a murder mystery party at an island retreat of tech mogul Miles Bron (Edward Norton), Detective Blanc discovers that this seemingly innocent gathering of friends has the potential to turn murderous as each guest has a reason to want Bron dead. It doesn’t take long for tensions to rise and a murder most foul to occur, but things are not quite as they seem leaving Detective Blanc to peel back the layers of this Glass Onion to revel the truth that was always in plain sight.
It didn’t take long for sequels to be greenlit and Netflix snapped up the opportunity to produce the first two of them, and so the time has come for Detective Blanc to put his skills to use once more for another Knives Out mystery.
The COVID-19 lockdown is taking its toll on everyone, including Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) who finds himself shutting himself away in his bathroom most days. But when his services are called upon to attend a murder mystery party at an island retreat of tech mogul Miles Bron (Edward Norton), Detective Blanc discovers that this seemingly innocent gathering of friends has the potential to turn murderous as each guest has a reason to want Bron dead. It doesn’t take long for tensions to rise and a murder most foul to occur, but things are not quite as they seem leaving Detective Blanc to peel back the layers of this Glass Onion to revel the truth that was always in plain sight.
What made Knives Out so brilliant was its ensemble A-list cast that delivered such incredible performances, and Glass Onion continues that trend impressively. With the likes of Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista among the names topping the bill this time around, Glass Onion plays its hand right by casting such brilliant performers in roles they would not typically play.
That being said, Glass Onion presents a significant tonal shift from the first film, and its one that Knives Out fans may not entirely be on board with. Whilst the first film certainly didn’t shy away from comedic moments, Glass Onion is by all merits a comedy first and a murder mystery later. Almost every line contains a gag of some kind, and the island that Bron calls his home is just one big Rube Goldberg machine waiting to be set off. The audience knows all of this very early on, and so it just becomes a matter of waiting to see who does something stupid first and will likely end up dead. It’s so absurdly over the top at times, and whilst this largely works in the favour of the overall story which itself is far more outlandish than the original film, it means that if you’re expecting more of the same from director Rian Johnson, you certainly won’t be getting it.
Where Ana de Armas was the star of the show last time around, it is Craig that steals the show here. I wonder whether that is because the ensemble cast, whilst strong, doesn’t quite mesh as well as the original’s. Where in Knives Out, Benoit felt somewhat like a supporting character, in Glass Onion he is very much the leading man, and whilst he may share the spotlight with Norton and Monae in various scenes, ultimately, it’s Blanc that drives the plot.
The mansion of Knives Out played an integral part in solving the mystery of that film, and I must admit I was expecting that to be the case with Glass Onion considering the elaborate and extravagant design of Bron’s island, but that wasn’t the case. In fact, the mystery was disappointingly straightforward, and I’d put my neck on the line to assume that most viewers will be able to work out who the mastermind is within the first half an hour. The why is more complicated, but thankfully that’s where Glass Onion excels with some brilliant twists in the narrative.
I feel like Glass Onion is a very apt title for the film overall. Whilst on the surface it may seem elegant and complex, the reality is that you can see what’s really going on at the middle of it the entire time. That’s not to say that you won’t have fun with Glass Onion as it really is quite funny, and the performances the cast give are almost as good as the cast from the original film. But the disappointing truth is that Glass Onion doesn’t feel much like Knives Out, and whilst it excels on its own merits, it is ultimately a Knives Out sequel and so should be judged as such. A good murder mystery for the adults to enjoy this winter, but I doubt it’ll have the lasting power of the first film.
That being said, Glass Onion presents a significant tonal shift from the first film, and its one that Knives Out fans may not entirely be on board with. Whilst the first film certainly didn’t shy away from comedic moments, Glass Onion is by all merits a comedy first and a murder mystery later. Almost every line contains a gag of some kind, and the island that Bron calls his home is just one big Rube Goldberg machine waiting to be set off. The audience knows all of this very early on, and so it just becomes a matter of waiting to see who does something stupid first and will likely end up dead. It’s so absurdly over the top at times, and whilst this largely works in the favour of the overall story which itself is far more outlandish than the original film, it means that if you’re expecting more of the same from director Rian Johnson, you certainly won’t be getting it.
Where Ana de Armas was the star of the show last time around, it is Craig that steals the show here. I wonder whether that is because the ensemble cast, whilst strong, doesn’t quite mesh as well as the original’s. Where in Knives Out, Benoit felt somewhat like a supporting character, in Glass Onion he is very much the leading man, and whilst he may share the spotlight with Norton and Monae in various scenes, ultimately, it’s Blanc that drives the plot.
The mansion of Knives Out played an integral part in solving the mystery of that film, and I must admit I was expecting that to be the case with Glass Onion considering the elaborate and extravagant design of Bron’s island, but that wasn’t the case. In fact, the mystery was disappointingly straightforward, and I’d put my neck on the line to assume that most viewers will be able to work out who the mastermind is within the first half an hour. The why is more complicated, but thankfully that’s where Glass Onion excels with some brilliant twists in the narrative.
I feel like Glass Onion is a very apt title for the film overall. Whilst on the surface it may seem elegant and complex, the reality is that you can see what’s really going on at the middle of it the entire time. That’s not to say that you won’t have fun with Glass Onion as it really is quite funny, and the performances the cast give are almost as good as the cast from the original film. But the disappointing truth is that Glass Onion doesn’t feel much like Knives Out, and whilst it excels on its own merits, it is ultimately a Knives Out sequel and so should be judged as such. A good murder mystery for the adults to enjoy this winter, but I doubt it’ll have the lasting power of the first film.