Glass Onion: The Knives Out Mystery (2022) review – Rian Johnson

[…Spoilers ahead]

Some of the most common elements that define the whodunit genre are a murder, an eccentric detective solving the case, an investigation that shows all characters as suspects because they all have a reason to kill, and the final reveal of the murderer. However, the screenplay structure is the most vital aspect of a whodunit movie. Depending on what information the director wishes to convey and when is critical to keep the audience guessing. For example, movies like Death on the Nile (1978) and Murder on the Orient Express (1974) follow the classic structure of character introduction, murder, investigation, and revelation. Some movies deviate from the standard screenplay structure, such as Jonathan Lynn’s Clue (1985), and make an intriguing case by offering three different endings to the story. In Sidney Lumet’s Deathtrap (1982), a murdered person reappears as part of a plan he devised with his alleged killer to murder someone else.

Rian Johnson, director of Knives Out (2019) and Glass Onion: The Knives Out Mystery (2022), is so familiar with various whodunit screenplay structures that he manages to create his own for both of his movies. The first act of Knives Out (2019) begins with a murder, followed by the introduction of characters (suspects), and concludes with a person confessing to the crimes. That person is now attempting to prevent the detective from learning anything about her. However, in the third act, Johnson flips everything and reveals that the person who confessed was not guilty, and that the person who was most suspected was the actual murderer.

Glass Onion begins with billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) inviting all his friends to his private island in Greece. His friends include Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn), the governor of Connecticut who is running for mayor with the help of Miles’ donation to her campaign, Lionel Toussant (Leslie Odom Jr), a scientist who works for Miles, Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson), a model turned fashion designer whose whose clothing line Miles financed, Peg (Jessica Hanwick) as her assistant, Duke Cody (Dave Bautista), a men’s rights streamer also funded by Miles, and Andi Brand (Janelle Monae), Miles’ ex-business partner. Miles and Andi founded Alpha based on Andi’s idea, but Miles managed to kick her out and take complete control of the company. Each of these people have reasons to kill Miles. The guest list concludes with Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), who was invited by someone other than Miles. Miles has decided to host a Murder Mystery game at his mansion for the entire weekend, similar to the one in the movie Murder by Death (1964).

Rian Johnson gives every indication that Miles will be the victim, but he deftly defies our expectations by murdering Duke instead. What has occurred thus far is only a tiny fraction of what transpired behind the scenes, which is the focus of the second act. The movie reveals some of the characters’ true intentions and identities through flashbacks. Several times throughout the movie, Johnson masterfully gives us two interpretations of the same scene. For example, while strolling through the island, Benoit Blanc notices Duke spying on his girlfriend Whiskey (Madelyn Cline), who is in bed with Miles, angering him. However, when the entire scene is shown later, it is revealed that Duke forced Whiskey to cozy up to Miles and manipulate him into allowing Duke to have his own TV channel, and when Miles denies it, this serves as the real cause of Duke’s rage. There are a few more scenes with different endings simply because Rian Johnson chooses to hide a crucial detail from the scene only to reveal it later. That is intelligent writing. He also defies another stereotype by demonstrating the victim to be the perpetrator, which, to the best of my knowledge, has never been attempted in a whodunit before.

Through Glass Onion, Johnson provides some interesting things to say about how we envision successful people. Miles Bron is a tech billionaire. His ego is so big that he claims that, on the one hand, he wants to be mentioned in the same breath as Mona Lisa, but on the other hand, he uses random words that have no meaning in the context of the sentence to make himself sound intelligent. Miles jumps on Andi’s million-dollar idea and teams up with her. He takes advantage of her success and suddenly considers himself a successful man. He begins financially assisting Andi’s friends Claire, Duke, Birdie, and Lionel to gain leverage over them. When Andi refuses to take his idea seriously, he uses a cheap trick to get her fired from the company and unjustly becomes a powerful and wealthy man despite his lack of intellectual capacity and talent. He wants to invest in Klear, a hydrogen-based fuel alternative that even scientists are unsure about because it could have disastrous consequences. Miles has become so delusional that he believes his wealth and power allow him to do anything, including change scientific laws and make a dangerous idea plausible. However, he is portrayed as a visionary man who is a genius and wishes to improve people’s lives, and ordinary people fall into this trap. Even Benoit Blanc initially believes Miles is incapable of making dumb mistakes. And Blanc’s ability to solve the case is hampered only by this misconception.

Daniel Craig delivers an excellent performance, as his character is more fleshed out than in Knives Out. But the winner for me is Edward Norton, who owns every scene he’s in with his flawless performance as a fraud tech billionaire. The production design of Miles’ mansion is awe-inspiring, with everything big and expensive but hollow, just like Miles’ life. The costumes of each character will make you want to go shopping, and the open exotic island setting is breathtaking to see. I had a wonderful time watching this movie, and as long as Johnson keeps re-inventing new screenplay structures, I’m down for more installments from him.

Glass Onion movie link: IMDB

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