Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery ☆☆☆☆

Starring: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista

Written and directed by: Rian Johnson

ith countless novels, movies, and television series already populating the genre, you’d think that there wouldn’t be anything exciting left to do with the murder mystery concept. But Rian Johnson proves that there is still quite a bit of life left in the whodunit with Glass Onion, the wildly entertaining follow-up to 2019’s Knives Out that does what few other sequels accomplish: surpass the original in terms of creativity, subversion, and fun.

Daniel Craig returns as Benoit Blanc in this second outing of the master detective who is famed, in the film’s universe, for solving the most tricky of cases, and it’s a fairly tricky case – or is it? –that he stumbles upon as he arrives at the private island of a billionaire who is throwing a murder mystery party.

Tech entrepreneur Miles Bron (Edward Norton) has set up an elaborate mystery and invited his closest friends over to solve it while the group gets together for their annual retreat. Those in attendance include politician Claire (Kathryn Hahn), scientist Lionel (Leslie Odom Jr.), video game streamer and men’s right activist Duke (Dave Bautista) along with his girlfriend Whiskey (Madelyn Cline), former supermodel turned fashion designer Birdie (Kate Hudson) with her assistant Peg (Jessica Henwick) in tow, and – to everyone’s surprise – Andi (Janelle Monae), Miles’s ex-business partner whose ouster from their tech company led to a bitter lawsuit.

Most perplexing to Miles, however, is the presence of Blanc, who appears to have received an invitation to the shindig despite the host not having sent him one. His attendance, however, turns out to be quite fortuitous when the partying and merriment – and, as it turns out, deep-seated resentments – are interrupted by an actual murder.

Luckily for us – and unluckily for the murderer – Blanc knows a lot more than he is letting on. Everything, of course, isn’t as it seems, which is a riot for the viewers – the peeling of all the layers of the mystery makes for a thoroughly enjoyable watch – and no problem for the detective who has the skills to solve just about any crime, whatever its degree of panache may be.

Glass Onion has a lot of fun with its plot, characters, and setting, satirising current events, parodying individuals, and taking jibes at a host of ideas, while building a case that constantly subverts expectations.

The strength of Johnson’s plot, writing, and visual flair make the movie riveting, even when parts of it aren’t entirely convincing, while the terrific cast – led by a wonderful Craig and supported by solid performances by the likes of Norton and Monae – makes the proceedings a joy to experience.

All in all, the very well-crafted Glass Onion is both more complex and more entertaining than its predecessor, and presents convincing evidence that in the hands of a good writer, even a much-visited concept can be given an exciting spin.

Rating system: *Not on your life * ½ If you really must waste your time ** Hardly worth the bother ** ½ Okay for a slow afternoon only *** Good enough for a look see *** ½ Recommended viewing **** Don’t miss it **** ½ Almost perfect ***** Perfection