Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

 

Tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) invites his close friends to his private island for a birthday celebration and a murder mystery. The group includes his company’s lead scientist Lionel Touissant (Leslie Odom Jr.), Connecticut governor Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn), fashion model-turned-designer Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson) and her beleaguered assistant Peg (Jessica Henwick), men’s rights streamer Duke Cody (Dave Bautista) and his girlfriend/assistant Whiskey (Madelyn Cline), and embittered former business partner Andi Brand (Janelle Monae). Also joining the fray is renowned detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig). But when Blanc learns that Bron never invited him, he suspects the eccentric host’s game might give way to a real murder, especially when Andi brings the guest’s entanglements with Bron’s shady dealings to light.

 

Rian Johnson’s 2019 hit Knives Out was an uproarious take on the Agatha Christie-style murder-in-a-manor. This sequel, connected only by Blanc’s appearance, takes more cues from “destination” murder mysteries such as Death on the Nile (with a touch of Murder by Death thrown in). It isn’t nearly as tightly constructed or clever as the first film, but it’s still plenty entertaining.

 

As with its predecessor, Glass Onion boasts a cast of A-listers spinning characters that range from hypocritical to over-the-top horrible into comedic gold. Hudson’s unfiltered, witless Birdie Jay makes the Jersey Shore cast seem urbane, Bautista’s perpetually gun-toting Duke is a Tucker Carlson Tonight reject whose vileness is tempered by pathetic desperation. The usually excellent Hahn isn’t given nearly as much to work with, but her (presumably Democratic) climate warrior politician funded by corporate cash extends Johnson’s penchant for skewering everyone.

 

The three juiciest parts, however, are also the best acted. Craig continues to thrive as a Southern-fried Poirot, alternating between embarrassing discomfort, brilliant (if pompously delivered) deduction, and sheer annoyance at the stupidity of others. The multitalented Monet makes the most of what turns out to be a dual role, playing each with distinction and conviction. Norton, is, on the surface, a transparent riff on Elon Musk, which would make him, a hyper-ambitious glory hog with no sense of restraint. His moments of affability and abject cowardice round the character, and there’s an interesting meta-layer to the casting (Norton being both highly intelligent and talented and very difficult to work with).

 

Despite the cast’s charisma, the striking island setting, and Nate Johnson’s (the director’s cousin) exciting score, Glass Onion’s plot is powered, to an alarming extent on contrivance, the mid-movie reveal being the most egregious example. For every hint that Rian Johnson is able to slip under the radar, there also seems to be one that is an obvious tell. This makes for a movie that is not nearly as narratively gripping as the first Knives Out, and the ending’s attempt at catharsis feels forced.

 

Netflix is due at least one more Knives Out film, and so we may see Blanc interact with even more impeccably cast deplorables before long. Their ability to make us laugh seems a given, but the ingenuity of the murder that engulfs them seems considerably less certain.