Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Cert 12A| ★★★★✩

Daniel Craig and Edward Norton lead a stellar Hollywood cast in this standalone sequel to Rian Johnson’s hugely popular 2019 comedic whodunnit.

Released by Netflix, which bought the rights to two sequels to Knives Out for $469 million, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery takes on the world of the super-rich as it pits the indomitable detective Benoit Blanc against one of his toughest adversaries yet.

Although set during the early days of the 2020 Covid pandemic, the filming took place on the Greek island of Spetses between June and July 2021.

Tech billionaire Miles Bron (Norton, brilliant) invites his friends — an array of of obnoxiously self-centred characters played by Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Dave Bautista, Kate Hudson and Janelle Monáe — for a “murder mystery party” getaway on Glass Onion, his private Greek island. Bron, however, is surprised to see the famous detective Benoit Blanc among his guests once the group arrives on the island.

When someone turns up dead for real, Blanc must use his peerless observational skills to discover who the killer is.

With a villain du jour claiming to be smarter, more articulate and more popular than he has any right to be, it’s not hard to read between the lines and work out exactly who is Johnson’s target.

Be it Musk, Trump or any other soulless, self-aggrandising billionaire who acts as thoughthey own the planet and everyone on it, Johnson has devised a fantastically eloquent attack on the super-rich and their hangers on.

Craig does a fantastic job, once again, as Benoit Blanc, a role which is not only a million miles from his 007 character, but one in which he seems to be having the time of his life.

Presenting Blanc as a mixture of southern charm and delightful campiness in equal measure, Craig shows yet again his refusal to be pigeon-holed or typecast.

Ignoring its needlessly inflated running time — two hours and 20 minutes is too long for any film, let alone one that could have been easily packaged into under two — Glass Onion

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Ed Norton

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The only other gripe one could have against it would be Johnson’s decision to move the film from classic whodunnit to something altogether sillier and more out there.

Still, there is a lot here to unpack, enjoy and be in full agreement with, which, to me, sounds like a resounding success all around.