Written by Andreas Babiolakis

While I liked it and gave it a pretty good score, I’ve been quite harsh on Rian Johnson’s Knives Out film since it first came out. As a huge fan of the whodunnit genre, I was disappointed in just how easy the film is to solve, and the way that the film tries to get you interested in the reasons the central murder took place (I actually labeled the film a whydunnit instead). That’s all well and good, but sometimes you are staring at the simplest reason square in the face. So when Benoit Blanc goes on about the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole in the donut hole analogy, sometimes the answer is just that terrible people do terrible things, and it’s expected of them.

Well, Benoit is back in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and Johnson has moved on from a Radiohead reference to the good ol’ Beatles, and the crime winds up being the most expected person once more (Johnson, you must tone down on the obviousness here), but I will give this film the benefit of the doubt. In the way that Knives Out was a lot of fun despite its setbacks, Glass Onion is just as much fun but actually even more clever. While less tight knit narratively than its predecessor, Glass Onion at least pulls off the whole layers-upon-layers story structure better, and it does so with its main gimmick: the same film played twice but from different vantage points (with the second play through having a flashback that precedes the events of the film by quite some time). Now, granted, these are things that no one would be able to predict on their first watch, but this actually got me interested in the motivations. Unlike Knives Out where I felt Detective Blanc was full of shit (and the simple answer is that bad people do bad things), Glass Onion somehow pulls this off better. Is this film full of bad people? Absolutely. Do they do bad things? Yes. I think the major difference is that everyone has different motivations, and you’re wondering who went the extra mile to commit murder.

Furthermore, Glass Onion may be a little easy to figure out on a basic level (who the culprit is), but we don’t know who the victim is until well into the film, so even that was an interesting guessing game (who will be the murdered individual when we’re already trying to figure out who will pull off the kill? What if our suspect actually winds up being the fallen?). Blanc isn’t called right away to tend to a case. He’s actually taking part in billionaire Miles Bron’s murder mystery destination getaway: a hideout in Greece for a few days. In fact, Blanc solves Bron’s little ruse before the fun even begins (as we’ve all learned these last few years, billionaires are rarely the geniuses they think they are), but that isn’t important, and all of the island’s guests, from the usual friends of Bron’s to his former business partner that is here purely driven by spite and scorn, don’t care much for the game anyway. Additionally, without giving anything away, Glass Onion’s self awareness — down to Blanc scoffing at himself for falling for such an idiotic ploy — is also part of its charm. Knives Out feels like it is far more clever than it is. Glass Onion acknowledges it and its sister film are quite silly, and that’s perfectly fine (look, Knives Out knows it is goofy as well, but it definitely took itself too seriously when the chips are down).

If anything, Glass Onion has me reevaluating Knives Out a little bit. Are these films as much of a puzzle as the best whodunnit films are? No, but now that I’ve seen two of these Johnson flicks, it’s clear that they do possess the same levels of fun that the classics do. While being predictable (to some degree; again, it’s about the who, as the why is quite hard to figure out in these films), Glass Onion makes up for that minor let down by being quite electrifying throughout its duration. Johnson is quite great at creating characters as well, and the following faces here all feel like they’d be a part of a future iteration of Clue (sorry, Detective Blanc: you’d hate to read this). The final selling point is how Johnson (being a fully imaginative and commanding director when he really tries) actually completely fools you at times. I was certain that something wasn’t as it appeared when revealed later, but a rewatch confirmed that I was wrong, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. Blanc was correct about us fooling ourselves with what we see or hear at times.

This is actually a great film to watch on Netflix as you can sift through the film afterward and spot all of the things you saw or heard incorrectly. Paradoxically, it actually looks great on the big screen as well, and this very brief theatrical run isn’t doing Glass Onion any favours in this respect. Otherwise, no matter how you check this latest Rian Johnson offering out, Glass Onion is a nice departure from the current state of the world (despite taking place during the pandemic and being based on careless, wealthy individuals that have zero regard for others… it’s still an escape, I promise). The casting is quite great, but I won’t single out any performances as to not give you any leads on who does what (and I guess I’m somewhat growing on Daniel Craig’s Sherlock-Foghorn-Leghorn impression, as he does fit in a world this quirky). I was apprehensive about the idea of more Detective Blanc films, but after Glass Onion, I’m not sure. I’m kind of looking forward to that third film Netflix has already asked for. Who will be a part of this next crime? How tangled will it be? I await some more murder mystery bliss, but please make it harder to pick out the killer, Rian Johnson.

Also, while I have your attention, Rian Johnson (if you are in fact reading this), I personally nominate the name Death or Glory for the next film (if you’re sticking with the whole songs-by-British-bands theme; besides, who doesn’t like The Clash?). It’s got a nice catch to it.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.