Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

This comedy mystery had a limited run in theaters during Thanksgiving, and premieres on Netflix exclusively on December 23, 2022.

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 2 hours 20 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: A-

IN A NUTSHELL:

The mysterious comedy was written, directed, and produced by Rian Johnson. More please! Instant request granted: once Netflix bought the rights for the third movie in this popular franchise, it began development! The third Knives Out movie doesn’t have a release date yet since the script hasn’t even been written yet, but it will mostly likely be out in 2024.

This is the first Netflix movie to play in three movie theaters before premiering on Netflix: AMC, Regal, and Cinemark.

The story is about the famed Southern detective, Benoit Blanc, whom we met in the first Knives Out movie. In this sequel, he travels to Greece for his latest murder mystery. Sequels always make me a little bit nervous because they have the reputation of being terrible and disappointing, but this one is a lot of fun and very good! Yay!

THINGS I LIKED:

The killer cast is extremely funny and 5 Oscar nominees, 1 Oscar winner, and includes Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Noah Segan, Ethan Hawke, Hugh Grant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and even Serena Williams. All of the actors look like they’re having a total blast.
There is a lot of humor, both visual and spoken.
Dave Bautista made me laugh every time he was on screen.
The title gets its name from the Beatles song in the White Album. The first Knives Out movie also got its name from a song by Radiohead from their album Amnesiac.
Fans of Knives Out will get a kick out of all the references to it and how some of the mentions are fleshed out in this sequel.
I love twists.
As an author and English professor, I thought the running gag of terrible vocabulary was hilarious.
Fun fact: The Mona Lisa really was painted on wood, not canvas.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

I was worried the cast would wear face masks during the entire movie.
This is a LONG movie! Some audiences will blame it on the decision to tell the story for a second time from a different perspective. It’s an interesting, yet time-consuming choice.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Profanity
Some crude and offensive humor.
Various weapons
Destruction
Several people flip the bird.

THEMES:

Truth
Wealth and power
Friendship
Critical-thinking skills
Immortality
Disruption

FUNNY LINES:

“It’s so dumb, it’s brilliant!” – Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson)
“No, it’s just dumb.” – Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig)

INTERESTING LINES:

Birdie Jay: Like Miles said, I’m a truth teller. Some people can’t handle it.Benoit Blanc: It’s a dangerous thing to mistake speaking without thought for speaking the truth. Don’t you think?Birdie Jay: “Are you calling me dangerous?”Benoit Blanc: “We’ll see.”
“Your next assignment is who killed the party.” – Edward Bron (Edward Norton)
“If you want to shake things up, you have to start with something small.” – Edward Bron (Edward Norton)
“Am I the person who will keep going?” – Miles Bron (Edward Norton)
“Fake it til you make it and have fun while you’re doing it.” – Miles Bron (Edward Norton)
“What is reality?” – Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson)