If you’re looking for films to watch across the Christmas period, a solid contender for your list is the enthralling ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.’ A sequel to the popular murder mystery film ‘Knives Out’, released back in 2019 the film stars Daniel Craig who returns to play Benoit Blanc. Fans of ‘Knives Out’ may notice a crucial difference to the original cast lineup as Daniel Craig is joined alongside a new star studded lineup of actors. Amplifying the magnitude of the first film, the roster of talent in ‘Glass Onion’ includes Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Janelle Monáe and Edward Norton. As well as the likes of Kathryn Hahn, Madelyn Cline, Jessica Henwick and Leslie Odom Jr. Crafting together a cast with such a diverse filmography amongst them sets an incredible foundation where we see their worlds collide as they take on this spectacular project.
‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’ centres around a group of individuals who have personal and working relationships with Tech billionaire Miles Bron. Miles orchestrates a get-together and invites them to his murder mystery party held at his Greek private island. Detective Benoit Blanc joins the trip to help solve a mystery party as he begins to witness that their friendships are as strong as glass.
Without giving too much away it is a thrilling watch and has many layers that will have you questioning the integrity of each character. If you’re a fan of the 2019 ‘Knives Out’ movie, you’re guaranteed to be on an exhilarating journey that is on a constantly changing course. A highlight of the film was witnessing the talent of Janelle Monáe who plays Andi Brand. Having etched an established career as a singer, her skill as a performer transcends effortlessly into this role.
The murder mystery genre is often associated with the incredible work of Agatha Christie, set across a 20th-century landscape. Testament to director Rian Johnson it was refreshing to see how the new social media and tech savvy generations unfold in a murder mystery situation. It’s rare to see a murder mystery set amidst a contemporary landscape and that’s what makes the ‘Knives Out’ films unique.
During the BFI London Film Festival 2022, we had a chance to attend the press conference, where the stars spoke about the film. Director Rian Johnson discussed the appetite for murder mystery films and he said: ‘I feel we caught a nice wave of people rediscovering the joys of the genre, what’s not to love, you’ve got a great mystery, you got an ensemble cast with really interesting characters that are all trying to kill each other.’
Kate Hudson praised Rian about how he revitalised murder mysteries, she explains: ‘The murder mystery has always been something that people loved and Rian just brought new life to it. The ability to cast such incredible actors in one film and to have us all actually acting together. It’s not like we don’t see each other or we see each other at the premiere carpet going ‘oh my god we did a movie together’. We actually got to experience such great writing, great actors and at the helm of it a new weight to the murder mystery.’
Bond star Daniel Craig gave an insight into the screenplay and said: ‘There is a lot of rhythm in the screenplay, there is a lot of what Rian is thinking and then I try and put what I am thinking in it and somewhere between the two we find a balance.’
Janelle Monáe answered a question focusing on what was some of the most enjoyable parts of playing her multifaceted role. She praises her cast and says: ‘I am so happy just being here, look at this cast’.
She later explains that she hopes that people watches the film on many occasions and as well as that she describes working with Rian was a highlight, she says: ‘We hope that people will watch this film twice so when they see it the second time they can look back and be like ‘wow, who is here, who is there?’ That was the exciting part, collaborating with him [Rian] and he is a true collaborator and that’s what you want.’
‘I obviously love the script, I was blown away by the twist but when it came to character development I had so much fun just working with Rian just on those little details that hopefully you guys will find when you watch it, five, six, seven times.’
Igniting the appetite for murder mystery ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’ is an exemplar of the genre and it is a testament to the work of Rian Johnson and the cast. There are many moving parts to the narrative and similar to what Janelle Monáe had said in the press conference, ‘‘Glass Onion’ can be watched multiple times.
