Benoit Blanc returns to solve another mystery. In Glass Onion he travels to Greece to a billionaire’s island where a group of people have been invited for a murder mystery party. When a guest does actually die, Blanc springs into action.
In Glass Onion, Rian Johnson has managed to create an entertaining and fun film which, whilst it doesn’t quite hit the heights of its predecessor, is a well weaved whodunnit.
When Knives Out came out in 2019, it created a brand new and yet old school murder mystery which has all the interesting key players we can expect from this genre. A victim, a suave intriguing detective, a witness who isn’t quite forthcoming, an aggressive character who is the obvious killer but not really and a mixture of different personalities who are all suspects. Glass Onion very much continues with these tropes whilst being something brand new in the world of Benoit Blanc.
Crafting a sequel to a perfect film is a difficult task, however Rian Johnson has kept the sense of humour, fun and twists that made the first film so popular. Starting off during the pandemic with a puzzle being dropped off to all of the guests, we’re introduced to scientist Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom Jr.), party animal Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson) gun-toting live streamer Duke Cody (Dave Bautista) and ambitious politician Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn). Within each puzzle is an invite from their friend Miles Bron (Edward Norton) the pretentious rich boy who is an amalgamation of all tech billionaires but let’s be honest, he’s mostly Elon Musk. They’ve all been invited to his private island along with Janelle Monáe’s Andi Brand to take part in a murder mystery weekend, where Bron will play the victim. Cody’s girlfriend Whiskey also joins in the mix (Madelyn Cline) as does Jay’s ever-suffering assistant Peg (Jessica Henwick).
In keeping with similarities to the first film which took real life elements and slotted them into the narrative, Glass Onion has a similar way in which it plays with reality. There is an element of poking fun at celebrities which considering how heaving this all star cast is makes it even more amusing. This mixes perfectly with Hudson’s character who is constantly putting her foot in it with some odd racial slurs. It’s almost a comment on how many times a celebrity can be cancelled before they never come back and before they are allowed to endorse anything again.
One of the challenges of this ensemble is balancing them just right, ensuring they are all used to the best of their abilities and given something to do. More dominate the screen than others but Johnson has managed to make each character not just memorable but alluring, even in his own twisted way. It’s an extremely funny film which occasionally strays more into comedy than mystery but most of the time it works like Blanc saying how stupid things are such as the board game Clue (Cluedo to the rest of us). Craig is given a more rounded character this time as he’s steeped within the mystery itself and not just a, to quote the great man, “passive observer.” We find out more about him and it’s a welcome change. Blanc was always the main reason Knives Out worked so well with Craig’s distinctive accent, line delivery and mannerisms, however it’s Monáe’s complex performance which deserves praise. She’s showing off her dramatic and comedic skills, both of which work beautifully in sync. The change of characters and location has allowed costume designer Jenny Eagan to go wild with creative choices and colours, especially with Blanc’s summer atire and pretty much everything Monáe wears. It’s all very bright, beautiful and chic.
Johnson has once again created an interesting web of twists and turns that makes for a thoroughly entertaining watch. With this being the second film in the Knives Out / Benoit Blanc universe and first of the Netflix deal, fingers crossed they carry on making these films for a long time to come.
4 out of 5.
Keep. It. Reel.
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