Writer/director Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery sends 2022 off on a high note. Johnson leaps over the high bar he set with 2019’s Knives Out and outdoes himself with this clever, fast-paced, and incredibly fun second installment.
Everything from the mystery at its core to the ensemble cast bringing the whodunit to life is bigger, broader, and more ballsy. Johnson’s script takes razer sharp swipes at narcissistic billionaires, and the zingers fly by so fast repeat viewings are mandatory.
The fictional tech billionaire roasting on Johnson’s skewer is Miles Bron (three-time Oscar nominee Edward Norton), head of the massive Alpha corporation which apparently has its tentacles in all sorts of industries. Bron invites his nearest and dearest friends – a group he’s dubbed his “beautiful disrupters” – to his private Greek island estate for a murder mystery party.
A weirder, more eclectic group of friends would be difficult to find. Birdie Jay (Oscar-nominee Kate Hudson) is on the downside of fame as an influencer/model/fashion designer after being canceled for offensive social media postings. Duke Cody (Dave Bautista) is a men’s rights activist…okay…and wannabe YouTube star whose gorgeous girlfriend Whiskey (Madelyn Cline) is the brains of the operation. Connecticut Governor Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn) is attempting to keep the door to her closet full of skeletons closed while engaged in a competitive Senate campaign. And Lionel Toussaint (two-time Oscar nominee Leslie Odom Jr.) is an actual rocket scientist forced to act on Miles’ wacky suggestions.
The odd-women out are Peg (Jessica Henwick), Birdie’s long-suffering assistant, and Mile’s ex-business partner, Andi Brand (Janelle Monáe, the standout of the ensemble), the very epitome of cool, calm, and collected. However, looks can be deceiving and Andi’s anything but cool on the inside. The acrimonious dissolution of Miles and Andi’s working relationship has driven a wedge between the disrupters, and her presence sets the group on edge.
Each of Miles’ disrupters received a puzzle box containing an invitation to the reunion party. One is also delivered to detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) who, although confused as to why Bron would invite him, jumps at the opportunity.
Benoit isn’t the only one confused by his invitation. It’s quickly revealed Miles didn’t send a box to Benoit’s abode. It’s only because Benoit’s famous – and tech bros like to hang with the famous – that Benoit is allowed to stay and participate in what Miles believes is an incredibly complicated, difficult-to-solve murder mystery.
Unfortunately for Miles, Benoit ruins the game before dinner’s even finished. Fortunately for the audience, the end of Miles’ game is just the start of the real murder mystery.
Each of Miles’ invited guests has a legitimate reason to want the egotistical billionaire dead. But Agatha Christie would be proud of Rian Johnson’s well-crafted twists and turns, and whatever you expect from that setup isn’t what Johnson dishes up. There’s one dizzying, tantalizing twist after another, and Johnson’s juggling of oodles of narrative threads without cheating is a major accomplishment.
Everything that made Knives Out such an entertaining romp is incorporated into Glass Onion and then improved upon. There’s so much to love about Glass Onion, not the least of which is watching Daniel Craig fully embrace this wildly entertaining character and listening to him wrap his tongue around Benoit’s unique Southern drawl.
Johnson asked a lot of his cast, and to a person they threw themselves into these gloriously over-the-top characters. I’d be shocked if there was a single piece of scenery left standing at the end of filming, and I mean that as a compliment. The more outrageous the better when it comes to Glass Onion’s ensemble.
So, who did it? Rian Johnson, twice, and we can hope his Knives Out franchise sticks around for many more installments. Johnson’s an incredible storyteller and peeling back the layers of his Knives Out whodunits is an absolute pleasure.
GRADE: A
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for strong language, drug content, some violence, and sexual material
Running Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
Release Date: November 23, 2022 in theaters, December 23, 2022 on Netflix
Studio: Netflix
