CINEMA | 'Glass Onion' Disrupts A 'Knives Out' Mystery x WFF 2022

"I'm very bad at dumb things."

Whistler Film Festival

The Knives Out duo, star Daniel Craig and writer/director Rian Johnson, return for another Benoit Blanc-led murder detective comedy in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. They further elevate the Agatha Christie-esque whodunit genre with tons of stylish flair set against a tropical Greek private island off the Mediterranean coast as its gorgeous backdrop for some comically thrilling antics.

Co-starring a very bro-y Edward Norton as an insufferable tech billionaire (think Elon Musk) and his cohort of loyal followers played by Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, and Dave Bautista (doing a hilarious Joe Rogan riff), it's Janelle Monáe's twisty central figure who does the most heavy-lifting in a star-turning role that jumps off the screen. She has a tricky part in having to navigate the layers of the duplicitous mystery as slowly revealed through interlocking chapters.

There's an underlying commentary to the divisive subjects Johnson brings up from takes on isolation in lockdown, cancel culture, men's rights influencers, tech companies trying to disrupt industries, and the power of mass wealth with a casually breezy tone. His script tip-toes through these topical landmines with an irreverant wit.

Johnson's skillful talent for pulling Glass Onion's playfully fun narrative cinematic strings is pure pleasure and joy. Craig's over-the-top performance and hammy Louisiana drawl anchor a second self-reflexively knowing detective adventure that is so delightfully razor-sharp in its cleverness. I could watch an endless succession of these sophisticated murder mystery comedies featuring a new A-list cast every other year until the end of time.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery screens at the 2022 Whistler Film Festival on December 2nd and 3rd. It will be available to stream on Netflix starting December 23rd.


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