In 2019, Rian Johnson managed to redeem himself in the eyes of certain film buffs who might have been less than impressed with his work on The Last Jedi...but I didn't really care about that. If anything, as someone who has little to no devotion to the Star Wars franchise, I actually rather enjoyed that film.
But it was Johnson's 2019 outing Knives Out that seemed to garner a lot of attention and acclaim...and rightly so.
Despite maybe not having the most complex or the most shocking of reveals, I found that film to be an absolute joy to sit through and I loved being able to see a juicy murder mystery played out on screen like a modern-day Agatha Christie.
And in the Miss Marple/Hercule Poirot detective counterpart, we get Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, a southern gentleman whose accent is so thick that he was ridiculed by Chris Evans' character in that film as being "Foghorn Leghorn".
When it was announced that Johnson had an interest in pursuing further films that would have Blanc solving mysteries, I was very excited to say the least.
The real question is if this new sequel would suffer from a sophomore slump or if maybe Johnson would manage to improve upon his mystery plotting skills.
It's the latter.
Glass Onion is an absolute delight.
If I can nitpick anything about the film, it might be that I simply liked the ensemble more in the previous film but that is an unfair comparison. MAYBE they could've shaved off a little bit in terms of the runtime...but that's it.
I think this film is maybe just a smidge better than its predecessor, and a lot of that goes to the great plotting of Johnson and the duo that forms between Craig's Blanc and the character played by actress/singer Janelle Monae.
But I will get to those two in a moment when I discuss the plot.
While the original Knives Out takes place in the dead of winter at a mansion on the outskirts of Boston, Glass Onion takes on a sunnier approach that could be compared to Agatha Christie's Evil Under the Sun or the film The Last of Sheila, which happened to be co-written by Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim.
And I want to call out Sondheim because he is in this movie!
Sondheim famously said that after the failure of his 1981 musical Merrily We Roll Along that he considered leaving the theater world to pursue a career as a mystery novelist.
His love of mysteries and puzzles were infectious, and it delighted me to see him featured in Zoom cameo along with another recently deceased legend, Angela Lansbury, whose most famous role was that of TV sleuth Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote.
We also get zoom cameos of Natasha Lyonne and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, plus a clever use of Jake Tapper and a hilarious bit with Serena Williams.
Though, perhaps the most interesting cameo in some ways is that of Hugh Grant, who plays the life partner of Benoit Blanc. I hope Johnson may utilize Grant in the third installment because I think his affable energy could fit well into the world and it would be nice to see he and Craig interact more.
Before I discuss the plot in more detail, you have been warned.... SPOILERS GALORE!
I did cheat a little bit here, so the following three paragraphs were crafted together synopses I found online. This is what takes up the first half of the film, but then I will take over discussing the second half.
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THE PLOT:
"During the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020, Miles Bron, the billionaire co-founder of the Manhattan technology company Alpha, decides to host a murder mystery weekend at his mansion, the Glass Onion, on his private island in Greece. He invites five friends: Alpha head scientist Lionel Toussaint, Connecticut governor Claire Debella, fashion designer Birdie Jay, men's rights streamer Duke Cody, and fellow co-founder and ousted Alpha CEO Cassandra "Andi" Brand. Detective Benoit Blanc also has an invitation and joins the group along with Birdie's assistant Peg and Duke's girlfriend Whiskey.
Upon arrival, Miles questions Blanc's presence, but allows him to stay, assuming that another guest invited him as a joke. Blanc overhears Peg confront Miles over a PR statement he wants Birdie to release and sees Duke watch Whiskey flirting with Miles on a bed. Before dinner, Miles shows off the Mona Lisa that he has on loan from the Louvre and reveals that the Glass Onion is powered by "Klear", a hydrogen-based alternative fuel that Alpha will launch in a week despite Lionel and Claire's safety concerns.
Blanc solves the murder mystery immediately and tensions over Andi's presence culminate in her leaving the party. Suddenly, Duke collapses and dies after drinking from Miles's glass; the panicking group suspects Andi. After the group discovers that Duke's pistol is missing, the power goes out, and everyone splits up in a panic. Blanc finds Andi but an unseen assailant shoots her. Blanc gathers the rest of the group and announces that he has solved Andi's murder."
This is when the film suddenly takes a sharp turn...and it is also when you realize how well Johnson structured out this mystery.
When Blanc received his invitation, we don't see who sent it to him. While Blanc is in his tub, his partner, played by Hugh Grant, opens the door to find...Janelle Monae.
So, it's Andi?
No.
In fact, she speaks with a southern accent (Alabama) and introduces herself as Helen, the twin sister of Andi. It turns out that Andi was said to have committed suicide, but Helen knows that it was a murder and that she suspects that someone, whether it be Miles or one of the others (their nickname: "the disruptors" but she likens them to be "shitheads").
Helen discovered the damaged invitation at Andi's home and now with the invitation in hand, Blanc agrees to investigate but with the caveat that Helen joins him so she can pose as Andi.
As it turns out, Helen didn't release a statement that Andi was found dead, so it buys time that she can come help him investigate and bring her killer to justice. I was watching these flashbacks in a mix of glee over the suspenseful plotting, but also sadness in the fact that Helen met a similar fate to Andi.
That is until Johnson's plot structure and clever editing and a great callback involving hot sauce show us otherwise.
The bullet meant to kill Helen was shielded by Andi's notebook. The hot sauce (given to Blanc by Miles earlier in the film) acts as the blood and a way for Blanc to build up tears to sell the drama of the situation.
It is revealed that Miles tried to take claim of the formula that developed Klear, and despite his efforts to silence Andi, she finally found the original cocktail napkin she sketched it on that Miles tried to duplicate on his own.
When Andi sent an email to the group that she found the proof, that set off the chain of events leading to everyone gathered at Miles' commune.
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FURTHER THOUGHTS ON THE FILM ITSELF:
A great suspenseful murder mystery is only as good as its misdirects and its hidden clues. I think the way Johnson set up what we needed to see only to reveal the rest of actions later were done rather well.
Perhaps one of the more interesting choices Johnson made is having a character by the name of Derol living on Miles' commune who is basically a stoner slacker who pops in and it always reminded that he is "not a part of the experience".
And despite the fact that he keeps popping in and out could imply that he will be involved in some capacity, he never is.
The duo of Craig and Monae is rather compelling too, and while we know they kind of saucy repartee we will get from Craig, it is Monae who comes out of this film as the major highlight in a lot of ways.
She has shown that she can act in other films, but here, I actually wouldn't mind if she got a Supporting Actress nomination. The dual character reveal and the arc of her avenging her sister's death is immensely satisfying.
And when she finally does destroy the commune...and even the original Mona Lisa painting (complete with Nat King Cole serenading) ...you can't help but feel like you want to burst through the screen and destroy the world with Monae.
The whole ensemble is very solid as well.
I am, perhaps, one of the biggest fans of Kathryn Hahn out there. Her versatility as an actress is amazing and to see her play this "white woman Governor of Connecticut running for Senate and trying to appear progressive" was perfect casting and plays so well to her strengths. She should just be in everything...I would be okay with that.
Kate Hudson also brings great energy as Birdie Jay, a former fashionista icon who always seems to say the wrong thing and is basically "cancelled"...like...what white woman in her right mind would try to compare herself to Harriet Tubman while on Oprah?
For the record, she meant in spirit...
Edward Norton gets to tackle Miles and I got to say, while it isn't some kind of remarkable performance in the sense of awards, Norton was the perfect choice for a character like this. Everything about his character is built on a lie and all he becomes is this smarmy man-child who oversells his worth for the sake of appearances.
One of my favorite bits of the film is that every hour, the voice of Joseph Gordon-Leavitt proclaims "Dong!" to announce the time. These were composed by Phillip Glass...or as Miles calls him, "Phil".
Norton has always had a youthfulness about him, and I think that energy as playing a man who is beyond his real means works very well.
On a final note, do you need to have seen Knives Out before watching Glass Onion?
No, not at all.
I do think you should see Knives Out just because it is a lot of fun and very well done...but you could feasibly watch Glass Onion first and not feel lost as the only connection is Benoit Blanc.
The film retains enough of what made Knives Out so effective and enjoyable while changing up enough of the formula to make it feel even more engaging at times. That isn't even going into the locale change considering we are in the midst of the Mediterranean and not the bleak cold Massachusetts countryside.
I am already looking forward to the third installment and the ensemble that Johnson will be able to assemble.
It would be fun if he could somehow extend these for films even beyond the amount of trilogy because these do seem to be films that many people, including me, seem to really enjoy and didn't know we needed.
RATING: ****1/2 out of *****
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