*Premise spoilers.*
Even though I really enjoyed Knives Out and was interested in this new movie, I didn’t jump on it as soon as it came out. I’m not sure why—maybe because, in the first film, I liked Marta more than I liked Benoit Blanc, and I was bummed that the new location/mystery meant she wouldn’t be around? Well, me of little faith, because this movie is great.
In the early days of COVID, tech billionaire Miles Bron invites his closest friends to a getaway on his private island, promising a relaxing weekend and an entertaining murder mystery game. When renowned detective Benoit Blanc shows up, everyone assumes Miles brought him in as part of the fun. The thing is, Blanc has an invitation, but Miles didn’t send it. Throw in a former partner with a serious grudge and lots of unsettled scores, and Blanc starts to wonder if Miles’ game might turn deadly serious.
This film has a lot of connective tissue with Knives Out, and not just because they’re both murder mysteries starring the same central detective. Both movies wrap their mysteries in a strong helping of class satire. The Musk/Zuckerberg/Bezos parallels with Miles are obvious, and his selfish, elitist friends who’ve hitched their wagons to him aren’t appreciably better. Like in Knives Out, Blanc gloms onto one of the guests/suspects as an amateur co-investigator, and it’s fun to watch their back-and-forth as they gather evidence and try to suss out the situation. And while the mysteries in both films take twists and turns, they also significantly reorient themselves in a major way over the course of the story.
But within those narrative and thematic similarities, Glass Onion still carves out a distinct place for itself. Miles’s self-indulgent excesses are endlessly roastable, and they’re on display throughout in both the dialogue and the production design. I like the way the film ponders the very nature of the whodunnit, getting kind of meta as it unravels its expectations of its own mystery. The setting, of course, is very different, as is the interpersonal dynamic between all the suspects. Plus, even Blanc’s appearance on the island adds a bit of additional intrigue.
I find that Blanc himself works better for me here than he did in the first film, where I thought he was just fine. I enjoy getting hints of his personal life here, including him going quarantine stir-crazy at home in the beginning without any murders to solve. And I feel like I just have a better sense of what Daniel Craig is doing with the character, which helps me get into it more. I really like that, while he’s a world-famous detective who’s the best at what he does, he continually chooses to identify the smart, observant outsider in the room and seek out their help in working through the case.
Similar again to the first film, the rest of the ensemble is impressively star-studded. Edward Norton brings Miles to life with committed pretension, Kate Hudson is having a great time as a dumb/racist celebrity has-been, and Dave Bautista goes all out as a gun-toting far-right influencer. Less larger-than-life but still effective, we have Leslie Odom Jr. as Miles right-hand man who’s charged with actually executing all of Miles’ wild ideas, Kathryn Hahn as a politician mid-campaign, Jessica Henwick as a long-suffering personal assistant, and Madelyn Cline as arm candy who’s worth more than she’s credited. (Cline is the only major cast member than I wasn’t familiar with, but while her role is smaller, she does well with it.) Then there’s Janelle Monáe as Andi, Miles’ former partner who was cut out of the business, and thus, the billions. Monáe is great in the film, alternately smart, steely, hurt, and funny.
Warnings
Violence, sexual content, language (including racial slurs and sexist insults,) drinking/smoking/drug use, and thematic elements.
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