Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is a Twisty, Tale of Intrigue and Greed

In 2019, TIFF and Knives Out was one of the titles rumored to be hilarious and one of the top titles on everyone’s list. Cut to 2022, after two and half years of streaming and attending festivals virtually, we were back on the ground bracing for the sequel Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Well, I’m happy to report the sequel holds up its end of the bargain and then some.

This cinematic cousin to Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, Blanc’s (Daniel Craig) well-mannered, slight eccentric exterior cloaks a sharp, observant eye and an instinct tuned to sniffing out misdeeds and possibly murder. Set on a remote Greek island, Blanc soon encounters a distinctly, equally eccentric group of characters including Edward Norton, Leslie Odom Jr., Dave Bautista, Janelle Monáe, Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn, Madelyn Cline, Jessica Henwick and more who are all hiding their own little dirty secrets, motivated by greed, lust, envy, and pride. As Miles Bron, Norton takes and retains credit for far more inventions than he should. Yet, every year, he invites his pre-success buddies for a weekend of fun. However, this time he has planned a pretend murder mystery, in which one of the guests is supposed to have killed him. Let the shenanigans begin!!!

With Glass Onion, it’s the women who shine consistently throughout. Having been a fan of Monae’s transition from musician to acting in such notable projects as Harriet, Hidden Figures, Moonlight and Antebellum, I was curious to see what seeing what Rian would do with her character. As Casssandra Brand, Monae takes her skills up a notch inhabiting a character who is a twin, doesn’t skip a beat and looks drop dead gorgeous the entire time.

Johnson’s script makes each character at some point look like complete and utter idiots, but it only adds to the fun of figuring out who the perpetrator might be. Kate Hudson is the most hilarious of the bunch literally playing into a broad stereotype of her “Almost Famous” persona to the point you almost forget she’s acting. Bravo Diva!!! Kathryn Hahn dropped glimpses of what Marvel fans were able to see her reveal in WandaVision, but takes it to a more slithering sinister level here.

It goes without saying that Daniel Craig ditching 007 for that southern charm is yummyness on overload, but I was there for every single second. Having Leslie Odom, Jr. inhabit the skin of a super scientific genius nerd was literally…genius and Ed Norton being the rich dude we all love to hate, yet secretly want to manipulate wasn’t too shabby either.

It’s evident that Rian Johnson is setting up Blanc aka Craig to become our next favorite mystery franchise sleuth, with insanely pristine production design ooozing with creativity, style and a whodunit sensibility that will keep us guessing until the next yummy chapter drops