Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

I’ll take as many of these as writer/director Rian Johnson wants to pump out, so keep ‘em coming! A sequel to the refreshingly inventive and incredibly solid Knives Out, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery follows the series protagonist and professional sleuth Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), as he’s wrapped up in yet another mystery that only he can solve. Bringing together a brand new cast of characters — including the macho video game streamer Duke Cody (Dave Bautista), governor of Connecticut Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn), scientist Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom Jr.), socialite Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson), and the suspiciously out of character Andi Brand (Jenelle Monae) among them — for a murder mystery game set on the private island of tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton), it isn’t long before something goes wrong, leading Benoit Blanc to take it upon himself to get to the bottom of their bloody predicament. What follows are twists, turns, and lots of finger-pointing, culminating in another classic whodunnit story that will keep audiences guessing until the end. I gotta say, between these two Knives Out films and the three lesser-made but no less enjoyable adaptations of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot novels coming out as of late, there’s a lot for fans of the mystery genre to get excited for. And much like how the original Knives Out subverted expectations and genre tropes in ways audiences hadn’t seen before, writer/director Rian Johnson not only overcomes the dreaded sophomore slump but successfully lays down and further improves upon the blueprint for how the next few films in this series will turn out, and I for one, am all for it. From a narrative that mimics the original’s structure (in a good way) to a cast of characters that are as layered as they are fun to watch and grow suspicious of, to a more prominent sense of humor that I ultimately enjoyed (despite it taking a bit to warm up to,) Glass Onion’s strengths are obvious to anyone watching, while its faults come down to preference when compared to its predecessor. Sure, things are a little less grounded this time around, and everything is a bit, well, more by default (that extra Netflix production money really shows), but overall, this one is a solid second step into a whodunnit series that won’t be going away anytime soon. So while I’m still mulling over which film I prefer in this just-getting-started mystery series (I’m leaning ever so slightly to the first one as of this moment), Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is still a damn entertaining movie that veers into a more tonally comedic, over-the-top, yet no less intriguing direction, making it just as unique and entertaining as the original was. I don’t know how Benoit Blanc can outdo himself after this one, but best believe I’ll be looking forward to seeing what mystery he manages to unravel when he returns to Netflix (and for a week in theaters) soon.