FLIP FEATURE
May 5, 2023
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story is certainly a long title, but I feel as it’s deserved. The story doesn’t have the cast of the first movie, save for Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc and Noah Segan who played Derol in Glass Onion and Trooper Wagner in Knives Out.
I feel like I need to rewatch this movie at least seven more times just to catch every single little detail. Every prop piece and word of this movie holds so much importance that it’s almost overwhelming to watch. It literally manipulates you and it’s almost scary.
The story follows a quote: “I want to be responsible for something that gets talked about in the same breath as the Mona Lisa. Forever.” That was said by Miles Bron (Edward Norton). Miles Bron gets his living and his lavish lifestyle by hiring people to think for him. He rarely has a thought that is his own. He doesn’t even make the mystery that draws his friends and Detective Blanc to his private island. It’s a strong message about getting what you want but not how you want it, and Miles Bron throws a tantrum about it.
The story also follows Miles Bron’s disruptors: a group of rich people, originally united by Andi Brand (Janelle Monáe), that sucks up to Miles since he funds everything they do, from elections, to investing in their businesses, to saving them from being cancelled. The disruptors are all over the place and most of them are of the breed that would be cancelled. Some are even in the process. It’s this crazy amalgamation of people that disrupt but only in the way Miles likes. For example, we see Andi’s twin sister, Helen (played by the same person) destroy his property and really just make Miles freak out.
There’s two characters I especially want to highlight. Those characters are Whiskey (Madelyn Cline) and Peg (Jessica Henwick). They’re both taken along for the ride at the private island, and both are sent to ask something of Miles. Whiskey is sent to convince Miles through sexual intimacy that her boyfriend, Duke (Dave Bautista), should have a panel on Miles’ news station. Peg is sent to try and save herself and her employer, Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson), from being completely destroyed because Birdie signed off on using a sweatshop. I feel bad for these young women. They deserve better.
I really enjoyed Knives Out when I first saw it, and I enjoyed Glass Onion just as much. It feels like Benoit Blanc is becoming a modern-day Hercule Poirot from Agatha Christie’s stories, and I would love to see more Knives Out stories.
