‘Glass Onion’ Reveals Layers Of Mysteries
Starring Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Hugh Grant, Ethan Hawke, a myriad of other cameos
Rated PG-13
Comedy, Drama
Run time: 2 hr, 19 min
Directed and written by Rian Johnson
In theaters November 23, 2022 (On Netflix December 23, 2022)
Okay, world, I’m once again entertained by being able to compare yet another movie to Agatha Christie’s style of mystery (First Bullet Train, then The Menu.). This time, however, we all knew it was coming. Rian Johnson’s Knives Out was a runaway hit in 2019, taking Christie’s standard of “all the suspects stuck together in one place while the detective solves a murder” and modernizing it with a huge cast of celebrities. No one was shocked when it was announced that there’d be another film in this universe, and the more anthology-style concept primed this series to avoid becoming stale. The only connection between them is the detective Benoit Blanc (Craig) and the fact that he once again has a homicide to investigate. Otherwise, we have a new tale, more intrigue and twists and turns that separates it from its predecessor.
A group of friends all receive elaborate puzzle boxes that turn out to be invites to a weekend-long murder mystery that Miles (Norton), their billionaire buddy, is throwing. The victim? Miles himself. The posse is confused when they arrive and discover Blanc, a man that Miles has never met, managed to snag an invite. Politician Claire (Hahn), brainiac Lionel (Odom, Jr.), problematic and washed up model Birdie (Hudson) and men’s right activist and streamer Duke (Bautista) make up “the disrupters,” as Miles calls them (with a few plus ones). There is one more unexpected guest: Andi (Monáe), Miles’ ex business partner who recently got screwed out of her part of the company, and certainly wouldn’t want to attend a party filled with the people who so recently betrayed her. Needless to say, this is a tinderbox of tension and there’s no telling how many ways it could all go wrong.
Just as in his first outing as Blanc, Daniel Craig seems to be having a blast portraying the southern-accented, cigar-smoking, classy-dressing detective. His every characteristic sets him apart from the crowd he’s been put among, which makes him the perfect person to observe and notice things that no one from within would ever clock themselves. It would have been easy enough to almost exactly replicate Knives Out, but Johnson manages to rearrange elements of the plot to make the solving of a mystery seem less formulaic. The writing is just as strong as the first, full of small asides and witticisms that will force a snort of laughter out of most viewers. The movie itself is stunning. Between the costumes, setting and filming choices, it’s easy to get lost in the aesthetic. Johnson is deliberate in every single aspect of what you see and hear (including what could be two of the funniest sound gags - a “BONG” on the hour he had specially composed and a guillotine style noise that indicates a priceless piece of artwork is being protected from a change in environment), and it’s a true marvel. The one place the development falls short in this film is actually with the characters themselves.
The fault doesn’t lie with the actors by any means. Every member of the cast is top-notch, and when you combine it with a well-written script, it couldn’t get much better. The characters aren’t as compelling as the first Johnson mystery, where you’re able to become invested so easily. Almost no one in this tale is likable, and it’s a bit of a disappointment that more people don’t get killed off. When you have no emotional attachment, it’s hard to care who might be in danger in this fictional world. Thankfully, the intellectual payoff of trying to answer the questions outweighs the emotional, and if you love a twisty, snark-filled murder mystery, Rian Johnson has managed to deliver once again.