The problem nowadays with doing the classic Agatha Christie-styled “whodunit” is how well-worn that genre has become, especially in the wake of the recent Hercule Poirot movies. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express and 2022’s Death on the Nile are well-crafted film productions, but because they are so true to Christie’s source material, which has been adapted numerous times, they are not doing anything new to really surprise you. While Branagh is planning another Poirot movie, scheduled to release next year, Rian Johnson is someone who is surprising with Knives Out, which is slowly becoming a franchise, with Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc as its own Poirot.
The brilliance of Johnson’s 2019 whodunit was how aware it was Christie’s detective narratives by literally starting with the death of a mystery novelist. Starting out as a murder-mystery, the film shifts genres in how it plays with characters’ perspectives, only to successfully deliver on the film’s initial idea. Continuing the adventures of Benoit Blanc, the sequel Glass Onion takes place during the COVID-19 pandemic. The detective is invited by the eccentric billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton), along with Bron’s rich friends to a private Greek island for a murder-mystery party. However, when a guest actually dies, it’s up to Blanc to once again solve the case.
Taking note from Death on the Nile, a detective is invited along with rich people to an exotic location with the build-up tension that someone is going to get murdered. This is a scenario that you have seen before and Rian Johnson knows this. While Glass Onion doesn’t quite shift genres like its predecessor, it uses a similar bag of tricks, such as playing with both perspective and time, in an attempt to reveal what everyone’s motivations and opportunities are. There is, at least, one extensive flashback, where we got a lot of answers, proving that like the titular root vegetable, the story has layers.
Carrying on Knives Out’s theme of classism, Glass Onion centers on characters who found their way of success through Moss’ influence. Despite how initially welcoming and thankful they towards their host, there are a variety of internal disagreements going on which if revealed externally to the world, that success is gone. No doubt that Johnson is having a lot of fun with his rather despicable cast through great dialogue – as well as recurring references that poke fun at celebrity – the film can also function as a cautionary tale about what greed can do to a person.
Whereas Knives Out perhaps struggled with juggling every single member of its central family, Glass Onion – with its grand futurist architecture, a contrast to its predecessor’s classy mansion – has a smaller ensemble, but everyone is at their A-game with performances that should be hissable to watch, but you can’t take your eyes off. However, as much as I can praise the likes of Dave Baustista, Kate Hudson and Janelle Monáe, Daniel Craig reigns supreme. While he is technically not the main character, Craig has such comic timing whilst able to be dramatic when the intensity of a scene requires, and when he shows off as his detective skills, he dominates the Glass Onion.
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