Glass Onion (Knives Out 2) **Spoilers from post 84**

This has an official title: ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’.

Glass Onion is a perfect combination of words IMO 😂

Johnson has a bit of a spiel about it here:

“When I made Knives Out, that’s what excited me about the prospect of making more mysteries with Daniel as Benoit Blanc - to emulate Christie and have every film be like a whole new book, with its own tone, ambition, reason for being… and (ta dah) title.”

Was lucky enough to catch one of the many preview screenings in the UK over the weekend. It’s a delight. It’s a ‘bigger’ sequel - everything has been heightened and exaggerated. But - in a break from tradition - that actually works. It takes a while to get there, though - the first half hour or so is a lot less elegant and focused than Knives Out’s equivalent, as it takes a long time to get to the meat of things. There are a bunch of cameos and nods to real world events too, not all of which work. But, to Johnson’s credit, a lot of the scene-setting does have purpose, and when it finally gets into the reveals and twists it’s just as entertaining, funny and wild as the original. Johnson has so much fun overloading the film with red herrings and misdirects, before gleefully revealing his true intentions. He has also spent that extra Netflix budget well - one or two slightly dodgy CG shots aside, the extravagant island setting acts as a much more intriguing and dynamic setting for the whodunnit than the manor of the first film.

It basically sticks to the same broad formula, although drawing on some notably different inspirations from the mystery genre. However, it has some great structural ideas up its sleeve and some killer rug pulls / reveals that often had the audience in stitches. The cast are a lot of fun, although to even mention who has the meatiest material (beyond Craig, of course) would spoil some of the surprises :)

It’s more Knives Out, ultimately: bigger, sillier, and just as fun despite some added messiness before getting to the really good stuff. If you have the opportunity to see it in a cinema, definitely do as it’s a great communal experience with a crowd - it’s only fitting that it is getting the biggest release of any Netflix film yet. But otherwise it’ll make for a fantastic watch with family or friends over Christmas.