Review: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Being the closing night gala at the BFI’s 2022 London Film Festival, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022) is likely the most anticipated film of the year. The second in the murder mystery series by director Rian Johnson, this film is as entertaining as the first movie for the most part, but falls short of said predecessor in certain aspects.

Being a film in the murder mystery genre, to assess Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery in its successes as a film is to assess its success as a competent mystery. Audiences must consider how it presents its clues to the audience and allows them to connect characters, plot-lines and props together without being overtly obvious. For the most part, fortunately, this film is a very entertaining entry into its genre. The clues that are presented to the audience through the film’s runtime have a connecting through-line between them, which makes them fun to find and connect during the story.

Characters in the film serve as a parody of the upper echelons of society in some way, providing a social commentary that is both effective and entertaining to the audience

As a result, the film is not only entertaining on a first watch but also on rewatches, giving the opportunity for the audience to find more clues than they previously did on subsequent watches and pick up on elements that they would have otherwise missed. This level of engagement with the audience is something that the film does very well, with all the elements of the mystery being purposefully designed to elicit some form of engagement between audience and art through the screen.

The characters and performances of the film are also a complete stand-out in terms of their quality. Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is the only returning character from the previous film, and he continues to give an incredible performance in the role, providing a depth and nuance to the character that was not shown previously. All other characters in the film serve as a parody of the upper echelons of society in some way, providing a social commentary that is both effective and entertaining to the audience. Miles Bron (Edward Norton) is a parody of the celebrity billionaire archetype seen with people like Elon Musk, with Norton providing the levels of ego necessary for such a role.

The titular Glass Onion is an intricate and well thought out design that lends well to the idea of the excess of the rich

Duke Cody (Dave Bautista) is arguably the runaway star in this film; with his character playing off the online alt-right personalities, Bautista’s natural ‘macho’ is a perfect fit for the role and his delivery and performance never fails to live up to expectations. Andi Brand (Janelle Monae) plays the cold and distant individual well, still giving a memorable and effective performance despite at times the character requiring her to not show much emotional range.

The sets designed for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery are also to be commended. The titular Glass Onion is an intricate and well thought out design that lends well to the idea of the excess of the rich. Moreover, individual rooms within the Glass Onion are spectacles in and of themselves, with the props used throughout these sets being well crafted replicas of famous art pieces and original designs that flow well together, and all have their place within the film.

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Where Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery falls short, however, is in some elements of its screenplay. Especially in the first 10-20 minutes of the film, there are many references to the time period that it is set in that have no real impact on the overarching narrative or are necessary for the movie to work. These elements serve nothing but to very heavy-handedly date the film to the time of its setting and ensure that those elements of the film will age poorly due to not only the content but the way they are handled. As such this film does not have the staying power that its predecessor does and will likely not be viewed in such high regard over the course of the years due to not possessing the same timelessness.

Verdict

Ultimately, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is like a glass of warm milk – something that can be nice and comforting to start, but once it ages it ages horribly. Caused in its entirety to its opening scenes and a reliance on elements that will become very dated very quickly, an otherwise enjoyable and well-crafted film that has memorable and genuinely funny performances is one that unfortunately may not stand the test of time.