Glass Onion review: Rian Johnson’s well crafted whodunnit

Another Knives Out mystery has returned to our screens with Rian Johnson’s much-awaited sequel- Glass Onion. The film features a star-studded cast, another incredible setting, and a brilliant soundtrack to create a fantastic whodunnit perfect to watch with friends or family in the run-up to Christmas.

I am not a rom-com person (blasphemous I know!) so my family and I always look for films of different genres to watch together during the holiday season. When Knives Out was released in 2019, I was very excited about adding a murder mystery into the mix of family Christmas films, and it did not disappoint! I took multiple trips to the cinema to watch it with friends and my dad bought it as soon as it was released on Amazon. Long story short, we loved the film with its 1920s Boston mansion, witty script, and ingenious plot.

Glass Onion takes place in May 2020 back in the time of the pandemic, but don’t worry they come up with a clever way to stop characters from wearing face masks throughout, thanks to insufferable billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) who invites his closest friends to his private island in Greece for a weekend. Amongst them are wine-mom and aspiring-senator Claire Dabella (Kathryn Hahn), scientist Lionel Toussaint (Lesli Odom. Jr), whimsical model and fashion designer Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson), entrepreneur and co-founder of Bron’s business Andi Brand (Janelle Monáe), Twitch streamer Duke Cody (Dave Bautista), and, of course, world-famous detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) himself.

Films of the past few years seem to favour a huge, random cast of A-listers assembled into one action-jammed plot to earn money; think The Grand Budapest Hotel, Murder on the Orient Express (2017), or more recently Amsterdam. Rian Johnson’s series is the latest to follow this trend, but with Glass Onion’s impressive scores of 92% and 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, clearly, he’s doing something right.

Now, I’m a big fan of the arrogant yet somehow likeable detective (see Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes) but Blanc is far less brazen than his counterparts, instead favouring manners, charm and, as much as you would expect from a private detective, humility. Luckily Blanc features much more in the sequel than in the original movie.

Glass Onion contains plot twist after plot twist to keep you on the edge of your seat throughout. Its run time of 140 minutes didn’t feel too long at all to set up an elaborate and inventive murder mystery, get to know the characters and watch it all unfold. Despite the characters all being eccentric and larger than life, each actor carried their role out wonderfully making a billionaire, model, scientist, detective, entrepreneur, politician, and influencer partying together in Greece seem like the most normal event in the world.

Overall, I’d highly recommend this movie to anyone looking to escape for a couple of hours and watch a well-crafted, entertaining whodunnit. But don’t worry if you miss it in cinemas as it will be available on Netflix on December 23 – just in time for Christmas!

Glass Onion is in cinemas now and will be released on Netflix on December 23.