Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (aka Knives Out 2) premieres at TIFF Saturday evening. I know there are World Events happening right now, but the Glass Onion teaser was my day in between TIFF screenings. We already knew the latest Benoit Blanc mystery takes place on a Greek island, and now we know the pool of suspects are puzzle enthusiasts. Champion puzzle solvers, perhaps? Benoit has investigated a rich family, now it’s time for him to investigate a collective of eccentrics. And since they’re all into puzzle, they will, presumably, be able to keep up with Benoit’s deductive leaps. Maybe even get ahead of him? The Thrombeys were never a step ahead, not even Ransome. Marta was, for a minute, because she knew something Benoit didn’t, but once she shared her info, he solved the case quickly. A group of puzzle…ists–puzzlistas?--might be trickier to deduce.
I have two (2) likes and one (1) question about this teaser. First, I like that Jessica Henwick is in the billed cast. She is moving up the ladder! She is consistently better than the mediocre projects she lands in, like Iron Fist and The Gray Man, she deserves to be in good things. She starred (briefly) in New New Star Wars as Rebel Pilot Jessika Pava, glad to see Rian Johnson bring her back for, I trust, a role that makes use of her considerable talent. Second, I like every expression on Edward Norton’s face in this teaser. No insight or commentary, I just like his comedic expressions.
And my one question is if Daniel Craig’s accent seems a little more, er, grounded this time? I didn’t mind the over the top Southern-fried drawl of Knives Out, it’s a big part of Benoit Blanc’s appeal. He has a nutty name, a flair for fashion, and a deep-fried drawl. In an interview with Empire, though, Craig said he worked with a dialect coach because he’d “forgotten the accent” and wanted it to be “as grounded and as anchored in reality as possible.” Sigh. Okay. I guess. I thought we were all on the same page about Benoit Blanc having an intentionally bad accent for comedy purposes, but whatever. A more natural sounding Southern accent is not going to dent my enjoyment of Glass Onion. Which I’m seeing in about 24 hours!
