Warning: This article contains spoilers for the film “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”
The original film, “Knives Out,” written and directed by Rian Johnson hit the theaters in 2019 with a bold take on the classic murder mystery genre. Johnson used “Knives Out” as a redemption of his character, informing everyone that he was capable of creating a masterpiece again, as his last film, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” was received poorly. His take on a murder mystery seemed to stump avid moviegoers at first, and then began to amaze film analysts as they learned that “Knives Out” was every bit as amazing and intriguing as the house itself in the movie.
Similarly to every classic murder mystery, “Knives Out” makes great use of subversion; a technique used to make the audiences think they are seeing one thing, while planting a plot twist at the same time, therefore subverting their expectations. “Knives Out” was packed head to toe with hidden messages, double entendres, and hints to the plot being shown in artwork around the set. Something that made “Knives Out” such a successfully bright and fresh story was the perfect use of misdirection, mixed with the familiar tropes people expect to see in a murder mystery, creating a story that is different than anything seen before.
This November, “Knives Out” welcomed a sequel, titled “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.” However, it seems that the only similarity these two films share is the main character and lead detective, Benoit Blanc, played by Daniel Craig. The big question is: will “Knives Out: A Glass Onion Mystery” be able to uphold the masterclass in storytelling that “Knives Out” presented in 2019?
Released on Nov. 23, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” hit theaters with high viewership, as many fans were expecting to see a story better than its prequel. With an exceptional cast, and returning main character, Benoit Blanc, “Glass Onion” delivered a strangely different story than what was expected from the first. The main plot of the film keeps the central focus of subversion, with the roles of “killer,” “suspect,” and “victim” filled unexpectedly. Plot twists are at an all time high, as the main “motive” was slowly revealed throughout the entirety of the movie, rather than all the motives given at the beginning. The audience is given the facts of the story as it unravels, making it almost impossible to predict the ending, much in fashion for Johnson’s directing style.
Detective Blanc is a curious and fascinating protagonist, and “Glass Onion” makes it a point to truly show how amazing of a detective he is very fast in the story, as he solves a “fake case,” in the first 40 minutes of screen time. This was needed, as “Knives Out” failed to prove how he gained his name as “The World’s Greatest Detective.” The shift of character development in the second film was strong however, with main characters being more colorful and having interesting, mysterious backgrounds, ensuring more in-depth viewership.
“Glass Onion” is freshly unique in the way that many of the main rules set for murder mysteries are broken. Motives are revealed very fast, and then proven wrong. Every character is a top suspect, and none of them end up being the killer. A side character is the only on screen death we see, and the killing wasn’t even intentional. As said in the film, “an onion has many layers, however, a glass onion is ironic, as we can see the very center.” The message behind the Glass Onion, which was an actual setting in the movie, is that by nature a murder mystery is covered in an immense amount of layers, however the center of the story is right in front of us, clear as day.
“Glass Onion” is one of the first movies I have seen with characters actually representing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is quite strange to see. Senior Levi Balden agrees, saying, “the references to COVID and pop culture seemed a little forced and probably would have fit better if the movie was released a year earlier.”
“I thought the story and plot was great, however, [“Knives Out”] proved to be an instant classic,” states senior Taz Kern, who saw the movie on opening day. He describes a feeling of nostalgia towards the board game “Clue” that he felt watching the film. “Clue” was referenced in “Knives Out” as well, with one of the main detectives stating, “He practically lives in a Clue board,” when talking about the main victim.
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” surprised me with a bizarre and confusingly shocking story. The visual setting was very impressive, and there were a couple jokes that made the story seem less grim. While “Knives Out” may be the better story, “Glass Onion” is still a strong film, and I recommend people to view it in theaters. I am not sure if Rian Johnson has concluded the “Knives Out” universe with this film, but I definitely hope to see Detective Blanc in another blockbuster soon.