The Knives Out Trilogy (2019-2025)
"Young, Dumb and Full of Christ"
I've spent the last few days rewatching the "Knives Out" trilogy backwards. I was very excited to see the newly released Wake Up Dead Man and then my enjoyment of that made me want to revisit Glass Onion. After that, I sat down with Christmas dinner to watch the original, likely my favourite movie released in the last 10 years.
Whether it's a classic Agatha Christie book, Murder She Wrote, playing the juror in Witness for the Prosecution or even true crime such as Serial - I love a good murder mystery. Knives Out, for me, was a perfect example of this genre. Both offering something fresh and paying homage to classics. Rian Johnsons love letter to Poirot aped it from my perspective.
Knives Out is a movie that made me want to explore the genre even deeper and it's great that by doing so, I then discover new easter eggs in the movie. Seeing the creepy sailor mannequin from Sleuth in the house had me pointing at the screen now that I understand the reference.
It's such a slick movie, subverting the genre by showing us how Harlan dies early on and building the twists out in different ways. It has snappy dialogue and manages to feel grounded despite having some very bombastic characters.
Glass Onion arrived with such a sense of style to it. Benoit Blancs wardrobe really stuck with me here. It really turned my expectations inside out and wowed me in different ways.
I feel a little bit silly for having said that this is the lesser of the 2 movies in the past. I sat down to rewatch this with an open mind. Especially since that in the aftermath of Wake Up Dead Mans release, I am once again staring down the barrel of either a long wait for another Benoit Blanc mystery or perhaps saying goodbye to my favourite detective altogether. I really wanted to be surprised and come away from Glass Onion with a newfound enjoyment of the the movie.
I think that one of the reasons this wasn't an instant favourite for me was that Benoit takes a bit more of a backseat in this mystery. I recognise that every movie in this trilogy has Blanc take someone involved in the mystery under his wing but in Glass Onion Blanc himself is more involved in the mystery. I feel that it changes the dynamic a little bit and, after Knives Out, I really just wanted more of the same.
With a bit of distance from its release, I feel that Glass Onion stands out as being the most unique of the trilogy and that is something worth celebrating.
In comes Wake Up Dead Man. The final movie in the Netflix deal for this series and somewhat a return to the more classic murder mystery aesthetic of the original film. Here we see Benoit Blanc solving a murder in an older town, where the church holds a lot of influence over a small but faithful group of locals. The setting evokes isolation, whenever the cast venture out they seem to be surrounded by a wall of tall trees. This is a town that is trapped in and is struggling to connect with the outside world. From the failed politician getting less Youtube views than the church has attendees to the writer who has lost connection with his audience - the "locked room" in this mystery is really the town itself.
One thing that I feel was amped up in Glass Onion and continued here was the slightly on the nose caricaturizing of some of the cast. Andrew Scott going on about the woke democrats and Daryl McCormack referring to himself and his father being the rebels in Star Wars (when describing the Empire) borders on cringe at times but it gets a laugh out of me and, in many ways, is a modern take on classic Whodunit characters who tend to have overemphasised opinions.
Daniel Craig is, as usual, the star of the show. The theme of lost faith and forgiveness flows strong throughout and I think the throughline of Blanc showing disdain for blind faith, to seeing the impact that it can have on people, to showing forgiveness and kindness to a character that is largely a representation of the church itself is a huge amount of growth for a character that is often background to the list of suspects. Blanc is funny, intelligent and thought-provoking. Plus, his sense of style continues to impress.
Overall, the depth of this movie was quite staggering. I had multiple theories about the mystery throughout, each with some level of correct and incorrect. I think the heavy subject matter and the complexity of the script make this less infinitely rewatchable than Knives Out but I do think this is an excellent movie.
