The sequel to Knives Out could easily have been a tired, phoned-in cash grab. Thankfully, Rian Johnson decided to go all in with the new Benoit Blanc mystery, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. The rich are richer and more horrible in the sequel, which is set during the pandemic. Ironically, the film is also centered around a group of rich friends vacationing at their mutual billionaire friend and benefactor’s private island home. The satire is pointier and more delicious this time around, and Benoit Blanc is there to comment on their idiosyncrasies and dig through their secrets in order to unearth the truth behind a brand new murder.
Billionaire tech startup founder Miles Bron (Edward Norton) has invited his group of close friends, whom he calls the ‘disruptors’, to his private island home, Glass Onion, for a weekend vacation. His friends include the current governor of Connecticut and Senate hopeful Clare (Kathryn Hahn), a rapidly fading fashion designer Birdie (Kate Hudson), the beefy, controversial men’s rights activist and Twitch streamer Duke (Dave Bautista), the brilliant scientist Lionel (Leslie Odom Jr.). And unexpectedly, another friend also shows up to the docks: Cassandra ‘Andi’ Brand (Janelle Monáe), cofounder of Bron’s startup, Alpha, who had recently lost a lawsuit about proving Alpha was her idea. In the middle of all this, of course, is Benoit Blanc, who seems to be pleasantly pleased to be taking a vacation from solving murders.
Until a murder happens in the Glass Onion, and Blanc has to put his Sherlock hat on again to examine the suspects.
Rian Johnson is more confident with telling a satisfying whodunit story with Glass Onion, and it shows in his character work, as well as the nifty details, like Miles having the actual Mona Lisa stored in Glass Onion, because he has always believed he would create something that would be as monumental and long-lasting through history as the Mona Lisa. The new Netflix-enhanced budget is on full display as well, from the lavish island, and the intricately designed home to even a Banksy-designed glass dock that rises out of the water.
Glass Onion’s cast is decidedly more outlandish than Knives Out’s cast, and that lends well to the satire that Johnson creates about Miles Bron and his friends orbiting around him.
Yet, some of them are also surprisingly nuanced: Whiskey (Madelyn Cline) knows she’s being used by her boyfriend, Duke, and even Miles, but she’s playing them just as much as they are playing her. Everyone in the cast is firing all cylinders, but the standouts are Janelle Monae, and of course, Daniel Craig. Monae gets to play the secondary POV character that grounds this story and provides scathing indictments on this group of rich assholes, while with Craig’s character, we see how he is stumped by simple mysteries and how that leads to him being stumped with the film’s main murder mystery. Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista are also notable for playing very outlandish characters that bring a lot of color to the story.
As the mystery escalates and circumstances get direr, Glass Onion repeats a key conceit of Knives Out: a lengthy flashback that peels back the proverbial onion to reveal a new layer around events we have already witnessed. The customary murderer reveal scene is done with as much bombastic aplomb as you would expect, revealing just how stupid this supposedly smart character really is, and then something happens that makes it seem like the culprit is going to get away scot-free. Then Johnson initiates one of the most gloriously destructive bouts of rage put on screen against the rich which culminates in a poetic flourish that I’m sure Johnson was very pleased about bringing to life on the screen.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery stands on the shoulder of giants when it comes to telling memorable murder mysteries, but it pays enough homage to classics while doing its part to advance the genre in its own way.
Let’s hope that further sequels, which seem all but inevitable at this point, continue this trend of meaningful contribution and avoid the pitfalls of becoming tired clichés.