Damn, that was fun! I don’t know about you, but I find the symbolism of a Black woman destroying one of the most famous icons of beauty in the world (read — a specific type of beauty) in order to crumble the ill-gotten empire of a con-artist White man who is only wealthy and considered legendary because he stole ideas and credit from others (most notably from said Black woman) and surrounded himself with “yes men” pretty f*****g disruptive. Not only that, but in this interview with Janelle Monáe, she pointed out that the symbolism goes even further. Cassandra and Helen, the names of the twins she plays in the movie, are referencing the sisters of the same names in Greek mythology. Despite being familiar with their stories (more so Cassandra’s than Helen’s) I didn’t catch the reference, but it goes to show that there are near countless fun layers of the film to peel back. Naturally, Helen of Troy was considered one of the most beautiful women in the world, and she was responsible for burning Troy to the ground. Written and directed by Rian Johnson, Glass Onion is the latest installment of the Knives Out (or “A Benoit Blanc Mystery”) series. And it’s a complex — yet deliberately deceptively simple and fun — murder mystery that puts the social media age on trial (I mean, who hasn’t heard of at least one Birdie [Kate Hudson]?). Simple, much like the “murder mystery” set up in the beginning, because it’s easy to see how Miles (played perfectly by Edward Norton) would be the vainglorious villain. But complex, because it could have turned out a number of ways. In fact, it just as easily could have ended with each one of them having a hand in Cass’s (Andi’s) physical death, just as they did her social and financial “death”. As mentioned and shown in the movie, the mystery is a glass onion itself — seemingly complex with many layers, but the center is in plain sight. There’s an interesting thing that happens — in watching movies and in life. Observing our reactions, questioning our perceptions. When Miles gives the drink to Duke (Dave Bautista) the first time, I noticed. And I clocked the fact that he switched it in his retelling. But — even though I initially thought that he deliberately poisoned his friend — I made excuses for Miles. Maybe he misremembered. Maybe he told it differently because he didn’t want to be blamed, but he didn’t do it intentionally. And “so it goes”. And while that’s just a natural part of trying to figure out a mystery, isn’t that kind of the point? Earlier in the movie, Lionel (Leslie Odom Jr.) explains to shareholders that while a lot of what Miles does is insane garbage, he is given the benefit of the doubt because of one idea he presented that was bankable. That is what those like him live on. Enough to make the audience doubt what is right in front of their faces — Miles was the one with the most to lose if Cass revealed that she had the real napkin all along. It’s as clear as day when she (really, Helen disguised as Cass) arrives on the island and the blood drains from Miles’s face. Like the first Knives Out, the cast is simply immaculate. The performances are seamless and believable, no matter how outlandish the characters. They could have been plucked from any news story from the past few years about said types of people. And Daniel Craig’s take on the detective has given us a new, engaging icon in Benoit Blanc, in the style of Jessica Fletcher (R.I.P. the great Angela Lansbury, making an appearance in the film in one of her last roles), Columbo, Monk, Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple and others. (As a side-note, I watched this movie a second time with my SO, and he was the one who caught that Hugh Grant’s character and Benoit are married. I thought Hugh was his butler or assistant, like a Batman and Alfred situation!) And, of course, Janelle Monáe playing as two (or rather three) characters was likely one of her most intricate film performances thus far. #KnivesOut
