Glass Onion

About

Glass Onion is a mystery film in the Knives Out franchise written and directed by Rian Johnson, starring Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc. The film came out at the end of 2022 and features a star-studded cast of supporting characters and murder suspects. Its release inspired memes and discourse, thanks in part to its many modern-day parallels to internet-related issues.

History

The film takes place at the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic. At this time, billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) invites his friends and Blanc to his mansion on a remote Greek island for a murder-mystery party. However, the fictional murder is soon overshadowed by a real one, giving Blanc a case where everyone on the island is a suspect.

The film features many parallels to modern-day issues and characters, including a wealthy, carefree model-turned-influencer prone to being canceled (Kate Hudson), a right-wing streamer and YouTuber (Dave Bautista), and an eccentric, idealistic entrepreneur and billionaire who may not be as smart as he acts (Norton).

The writing and production of the film began shortly after the release of Knives Out. During the spring of 2021, a plethora of high-profile cast announcements, including Janelle Monae, Batista, Kate Hudson and Kathryn Hahn, inspired the Cast In Knives Out 2 meme, in which people parodied the string of announcements by adding more humorous actors.

The film was released in theaters on November 23rd and then on Netflix December 23rd.^[1]

Reception

The film was largely praised upon its release, earning a score of 81/100 on Metacritic^[2] and a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[3] Critics largely praised the film's writing and the performances of the cast. AV Club^[4] praised the film as a "whip-smart" reinvention of the classic "whodunit" genre, and noted the cast's exuberance at being in the film translated on screen, making for " perfect crowd-pleasing counter-programming for folks craving something that isn’t either superhero or horror-related."

In the few less-than-glowing reviews, some critics argued the film may have gone overboard with its meta-references and social commentary. The Guardian^[5] wrote, "it’s so stuffed with so much that it’ll surely prove more fun to those who appreciate getting more bang for their buck. It’s hard not to have fun when Johnson pulls the strings, I just wish he’d not pulled quite so many and quite so hard."

Online Presence

The film caused significant discourse online after its December 23rd Netflix release. Many viewers compared Edward Norton's character to Elon Musk, suggesting that Rian Johnson was criticizing the billionaire.^[6] Johnson is on record as saying Miles Bron is not a direct Musk parallel but rather an amalgamation of social media tech billionaires like Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey.

The film was largely celebrated on social media after its Netflix release, as many enjoyed the perceived parody of Elon Musk. For example, Twitter user @ohcatrina^[8] posted a Euphoria meme about the Musk slight, gaining over 1,000 retweets and 14,000 likes in two days (shown below, left). User @runwithskizzers^[9] praised a moment where a character says of Bron, "It's so dumb, it's brilliant!" and Blanc replies, "No! It's just dumb!", gaining over 170 retweets and 1,900 likes in one day (shown below, right).

Notably, Ben Shapiro tweeted a thread criticizing the film.^[7] He began by criticizing the film's structure before delving into criticizing the film's politics. Both arguments were thoroughly roasted on social media, causing Shapiro to trend on Twitter on December 26th.

Search Interest

External References