If there is a theme to Rian Johnson‘s directorial career, it might be best described using the word “subversive”. Every time you think he will do “A”, Rian does “F”; that’s how subversive he is. And Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery only cements it further into his legacy. No matter what you were expecting after Knives Out (2019, my review here), this film would have surprised you at least a couple of times; from its characters to the main twist, everything is different, yet it still works.
I suspect it will be the same “story” with Glass Onion as it was with Knives Out; I think I will fully appreciate it on its second or third viewing. For your information, Rian doesn’t like the sub-title “A Knives Out Mystery“, so I will shorten the title for the rest of this review. Anyway, even with Knives Out, which I saw in cinemas, it wasn’t until my third viewing I was fully in the “10/10, love it!” camp. Each time I rewatched it, I caught something new, something tiny yet clever that I only appreciated with the knowledge of the story and all its twists and turns. And this is where Glass Onion shines or is different. As Benoit Blanc (aka Daniel Craig) says: “It’s so dumb!” It is, in fact, so dumb you might figure out the mystery before he does! But that’s kind of the point.
This is where we come back to Rian being subversive and wanting his audience to never assume anything. So what he did was brilliant. Think about it, you wrote a well-reviewed/liked whodunit, positively received by both the critics and fans, so how do you top that? Will you try to think of something more clever and intricate than the previous film? After all, that sounds logical and would be the first thought in many minds. But not Rian’s, as he takes the opposite approach and literally names his film Glass Onion. Something that is layered, but since it’s made out of glass, you can see through all those layers. And that is kinda dumb and not in a brilliant way (again, not me slagging this film off, this is yet another line by Benoit).
This brings me to outstanding people – Kate Hudson, Daniel Craig and the main star of this film, Janelle Monáe. Kate was delightful as this ditzy businesswoman willing to sell her soul. What I loved the most was her comedic timing and delivery of most of her lines, pure brilliance. Daniel Craig is having a blast with his role and is only getting better and better, and I can’t wait to see him in at least one more “Knives Out Mystery” film. But as hinted at prior, the main star is Janelle. Not only her mysterious character has the most to do, but her role is also layered. I won’t go into spoilers because it’s too early, but I will say this; whatever Janelle was doing in this film, I was buying. No matter what was happening with her character, I was rooting for her and wanted more of her. Such a well-acted, well-written role and Janelle nailed everything from the first frame she appeared on the screen.
My only worry about going back to Glass Onion is that the cast doesn’t seem as compact and necessary as in Knives Out. Let me explain. I have talked about some standout performances already; unfortunately, we have some characters who were totally unnecessary. To the point, I don’t think they had any impact on the overall story. Take Leslie Odom Jr., I like him, and when I saw him in this film, I got excited. But going back through my memory now and how I remember most of the characters for having something to do, some memorable line or two, I swear I keep forgetting he was there. The same could be said about Jessica Henwick‘s character, whose only purpose was to be a straight character to her boss, Kate Hudson. But if I remember correctly, even she doesn’t have any overall impact on anything, to the point you could cut Jessica and Leslie out of the film, and you would not notice anything weird or missing.
And that makes me wonder whether Rian was trying to be too subversive for his own good. As with Knives Out, part of its charm (at least for me) was that every character, no matter how “small”, had something to do with the main mystery. And sure, technically, they are all involved here too, but believe me, when you watch Glass Onion, you won’t remember Leslie Odom Jr., respectively, his character name, in two weeks. And I still remember most, if not all, actors from Knives Out because they all played some part in the overall story. And in this one, given its subversive nature, the cast that is star-studded as fuck, doesn’t seem to be as necessary, at least some roles. But who knows? Maybe on a second or third rewatch, I will discover I missed something, and everybody is important in this film. Everything is possible, after all, an onion (albeit a glass one) still has layers. 😉
Overall, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is a worthy follow-up to Knives Out. I firmly believe it’s too early to tell whether it’s better or worse than its predecessor; only time will tell, but I had fun. Mainly with Janelle and her powerhouse of a performance, she knocked it out of the park. I can’t wait to rewatch this film, and I hope the already-announced Knives Out 3 (2024) will surprise us yet again, and we might have an amazing trilogy on our hands. In Rian, I trust.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
Until next time,
Luke