In Rian Johnson’s anthology sequel, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”, he puts a modernized twist on the classic mystery formula. The movie investigates the hypocrisy of fake friendships and how greed and wealth leads to corruption. 

The film opens in the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic with the strict, confined times of quarantine. Introducing an irresponsible group of friends who don’t abide by disregarding health guidelines. Each gets their riches from different places like Duke and Whiskey from social media, Lionel’s innovations in science, Claire’s faulty political campaigns  and Birdie’s unconscious fast fashion production. Embracing the “get rich quick” and billionaire pop culture. 

The mystery unfolds as the group is invited on a trip to Greece by their billionaire friend, Miles Bron. The detective from Knives Out, Benoit Blanc, tags along on the trip as well. From the start, all of the characters very obviously have fake alliances and collaborations with Miles for his money and clout. Miles gets his own riches from a new development called “Klear” which sparks a peculiar tension within the friend group. Right away, Blanc starts to peel back the layers of the murder mystery.

Comedic commentary on rich culture is frequent throughout the film. Whether it was tossing Paul McCarteny’s signed guitar in the sand, owning a $1.5 million Porsche 918 Spyder just to “look at”, or even purchasing the most beloved painting in the world, the Mona Lisa. There is a constant and prominent theme of greed pervading the whole film.

There are many laughable snippets inserted in the plot like a strict non-smoking garden which Detective Blanc sets off from his cigar, a handful of random celebrities like Serena Williams as Mile’s virtual fitness coach and Kanye painted on a mural overlooking the dining table. 

Although, not everyone was a fan of the modernized setting. Jayn Willis, a Junior at Summit, found the movie too different from the previous movie, Knives Out. 

“Mile’s absurd amount of wealth and modernization was too distracting for a murder mystery”

Willis also says that the sophistication of the murder mystery was lacking.

“I knew who the killer was the whole time in Glass Onion whereas I didn’t have a clue in Knives Out.”’

Although in the title itself, onions are being used as a metaphor. Glass Onion does a brilliant job capturing the idea, “things aren’t as complicated as they seem”. Onions have many layers to them. But the idea of a glass onion is that you can see right through. Meaning this mystery that seemed complex is actually obvious and straightforward. 

Freshman Sawyer Dailey had found Glass Onion appealing.

“I really liked how different it was from the first movie. The change in characters was really refreshing and they made it funny and engaging.”

For Dailey, Glass Onion was a head-scratcher.

“I had no clue who the killer was. I really liked the double plot twist. It made my mind really stuck. One second I thought it was Andi, the next I thought it was Whiskey.”

Tying this into the murder mystery, one might be oblivious to the fact that the killer just may be right in front you.