Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc returns in Glass Onion, alongside a new all-star ensemble embroiled in a murder mystery. With quite a different tone than the original, this Knives Out sequel leans into broader comedy but is still a lot of fun, says Amelia Berry.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
With 2022 already giving us Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile, and Mousetrap spoof See How They Run, it seems only fair that we should complete the whodunnit hat-trick with a sequel to Rian Johnson’s 2019 surprise hit, Knives Out.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (to give the film its full title), reunites us with Daniel Craig’s scenery-chewing Southern detective Benoit Blanc, this time invited to join a murder mystery weekend with an eclectic group of wealthy “disruptors” and their tech billionaire host, Miles Bron (Edward Norton). An immaculately-cast ensemble, the disruptors consist of streetwear mogul Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson channeling Christina Aguilera), soccer mom-turned-Governor Claire (Kathryn Hahn), Joe Rogan-adjacent Twitch streamer Duke Cody (Dave Bautista), Bron’s top scientist Lionel (Leslie Odom Jr.), and Bron’s bitter former business partner Andi (Janelle Monáe).
With a bunch of highly-strung, slightly desperate rich people thus confined to a remote Greek island, doubt, drama, and bloody murder ensues. As with any detective mystery, the less you know about the plot the better, but fans of the genre will appreciate nods to the classic 1982 adaptation of Christie’s Evil Under the Sun and 1973 cult classic The Last of Sheila (miraculously written by Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim, who makes his last film appearance as a cameo here).
True to these classic touchstones, Johnson really takes his time setting up the pieces, and the pacing in the first act can feel fairly sluggish. But once the first murder hits, the momentum picks up fast, winding into some very clever twists and turns, and paying off set-up after set-up into a deeply satisfying finale. Even the annoying Beatles-reference title ends up delivering on several levels (or…layers?).
The whole thing is topped off with Nathan Johnson’s wonderfully ’70s score and some brilliant performances, particularly from the disruptors’ hangers on; Madelyn Cline as Duke’s girlfriend Whiskey and Jessica Henwick as Birdie’s assistant Peg. Craig clearly appreciates being able to spread his wings a little more and his Benoit Blanc is just as charming and goofy as any Poirot. The other real centerpiece of the film is Janelle Monáe, who manages a deceptively layered performance while still absolutely hamming it up where she needs to (more layers, like onions, see?).
It was probably inevitable that with Blanc taking more of a central role, the second Knives Out film would lean into broader comedy and Glass Onion certainly has quite a different tone than the original. Where Knives Out felt like a cozy TV whodunnit infused with a few genre-bending thrills and feints, Glass Onion colours its fantastically-constructed mystery with shades of 90s/2000s glossy blockbuster action comedy à la Scooby-Doo or Charlie’s Angels. This can be a lot of fun, but leads to some odd loose ends (e.g. a totally plot peripheral comedy stoner character) that weigh down an otherwise tightly put together film.
It’s certainly difficult to follow up on a movie that was as much of a revelation as Knives Out, and Glass Onion does lack some of the emotional core that made that film resonate with so many. What Rian Johnson delivers though, is a silly, clever, and totally riveting whodunnit that rewards close attention and demands an immediate rewatch. Peel slowly and see.
