Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery might repeat the original movie's best trick, but with a twist. Rian Johnson's 2019 murder mystery, Knives Out, introduced the world to Benoit Blanc, a private detective hired to investigate the death of the head of the Thrombey family. Knives Out perfectly set up sequels, with Glass Onion officially being announced in February 2020, only three months after the release of the first film.
The first trailer for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery features the return of Daniel Craig as the charismatic Benoit Blanc alongside a new ensemble cast including Edward Norton, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., and Janelle Monáe. The sequel moves its setting from the old country mansion of Knives Out to a private Greek island. The location is owned by Norton's tech billionaire character, Miles Bron, who gathers his friends together for a luxurious and fun-filled retreat that seems to be murder-mystery-themed. Knives Out introduced Harlan Thrombey as a murder-mystery novelist, and a similar meta theme involving puzzles and games might not be at the center of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
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Tricky puzzles and complex board games take center stage in the first moments of the Glass Onion trailer, suggesting that the movie will repeat one of the best tricks from the clue-filled first Knives Out: connecting the real murder and the game being played at the start. This would allow large set pieces and elaborate plots to play out without feeling forced or contrived but make perfect sense in the confines of the story. If the setting is that of a murder-mystery-themed retreat, then the real whodunit and the adventures and accusations that follow will be better justified, and so much more satisfying when Benoit Blanc uncovers the whole plot.
Why Knives Out 2's Trick May Be A Clever Fakeout
Even though using board games and puzzles to represent a larger murder mystery would be a strong continuation of a theme from Knives Out, it's possible that the perplexingly titled Glass Onion might already be tricking audiences. The emphasis put on the games at the beginning of the trailer could be a clever fake-out, throwing the audience off before the real mystery unfolds in the movie. The trailer dedicates a lot of time to lavishly showing off the tricks and traps of the games, which could already be revealing clues to viewers. However, Rian Johnson would also likely prefer to keep people in the dark for as long as possible.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is already prompting speculation about what mysteries might unfold throughout the upcoming movie. Netflix also bought the rights to a third Knives Out movie after Glass Onion, so the franchise will continue to grow with even more exciting and thrilling challenges and mysteries to come in the future. For now, though, the Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery trailer might have kicked up more questions than answers, which will surely bring huge surprises when the movie is released in November 2022.