Hi all! I hope the holiday weekend fed you, rested you, did whatever it needed to do for the foreseeable Home Stretch ahead of us. For my fellow college students, we will survive Hell Month at all costs, I just know it.
Tonight, I come to you in the name of fun! Thrills, gasps and giggles! While at home for Thanksgiving I watched (and rewatched) a lot, taking time to catch up on releases that had slipped through the cracks for me. Two of those top watches were Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and One Of Us Is Lying S2 — read on for thoughts!
Nothing vindicates me more than knowing that though Netflix made a moronic decision in only contracting Glass Onion for a one-week theatrical release, it’s still receiving all the due attention and attendance it deserves. Coming off the heels of one of 2019’s most beloved films by critics and audiences alike, I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly entertained by the followup, and think this franchise should persist against the odds forevermore!
Glass Onion is unlike Knives Out in that the former’s tone, cast, plot and setting could not be further from the latter’s, but it takes what made Knives Out so successful and amplifies it to resonate with a bolder, brassier post-pandemic audience. The rich are even richer, the duplicitous even sneaker, and each character is painfully real. Viewers could easily make comparisons between Glass Onion’s characters and the Thrombey family as well as IRL counterparts, which only further humanizes them and the skeletons in their closet.
Glass Onion (as well as its predecessor) fall into the very hot, very trendy genre of rich-people-being-horrible-and-getting-thrashed-for-it which I, for one, enjoy as much as the next gal. Whereas Knives Out made sharp commentary of the fierce alliances the wealthy form between one another despite the illusions of their political or moral differences, Glass Onion takes a global pandemic and utilizes it as a stage for the sheer futility, spectacle and absurdity of the pageant of celebrity.
Billionaires like Miles Bron are certainly real (hell is empty and all the devils are here, after all) and by positioning Benoit Blanc as a (queer coded and confirmed) outsider to his posturing, audiences watch this inner circle of “disruptors” crumble. The tenuous bonds of scandal and lies that tie them together is just as compelling as the familial strains of Knives Out’s cast, with much broader consequences.
Every actor in the cast gives a great performance, disappearing into their characters with just the right amount of humor and dedication. All in all, this movie is so fun to watch, intrinsically believable and a damn good mystery.
It is now that I realize I never gave you all a full review of One Of Us Is Lying S1, but trust that I’ll catch you up. Based on Karen McManus’ wildly successful YA murder mystery, the Peacock TV series centers around a group of four unexpected allies at Bayview High School: Cooper Clay (closeted jock), Nate Macauley (bad boy, Philip Digby pilled), Bronwyn Rojas (straight edge Yale hopeful) and Addy Prentiss (popular princess), all present when Simon Kelleher (school outcast and Gossip Girl antic instigator) falls dead during a school detention session. Blackmail, anonymous threats and lots of drama ensue.
When this book (and its endless sequels) first came onto the scene, I’ll admit that I didn’t give it much attention or credit. I read it, I put it back, I forgot about it until I saw the incredibly niche Deadline casting announcement of Chase Stokes joining the S1 pilot (Stokes ended up dropping out due to scheduling conflicts, but it was real to me). By the time Season One premiered, I decided to give it a chance.
Somehow, someway, I’ve been entirely sucked in. Yes, the dialogue and costuming are begging for a Gen-Z sensitivity reader to inform the Culture, and yes, each episode is soundtracked to hell and back. Certain flaws come with the territory (teen YA adaptation), but I was shocked by how utterly compelling, likable and sharp this show has been.
Spoilers aside, Season Two follows up on a cliffhanger ending that leaves viewers wondering, “where could they possibly go with this”, and yet it went there. Characters were left spiraling, regressing, evolving and revealing themselves in vulnerable ways that surpassed that of the first season, and the mystery element just takes matters up about a thousand notches. Though the concept of “anonymous texter threatens to ruin your life” isn’t new, it elevates this show to new territories that kept me guessing until the final seconds. The lede and final reveals are buried surprisingly well, and for a show that doesn’t hold back on shock and awe, I never once felt it was distasteful or fan-servicey. Every “t” was crossed and “i” was dotted, and that’s how you write a mystery show!
One detail I loved about the twist of this season was that the lack of perspective from Simon’s character put the audience in the aptly named “Murder Club” point of view. You know just about as much as they do, thanks to the rightful axing of gratuitous flashbacks that the first season depended upon to explain past and current grudges between the main characters and Simon himself. Episode Six, which highlights Vanessa’s search for justice is such a pivotal moment for the season, is sandwiched between two heavy-hitting character centered spots and still manages to stand out. After that episode, the pace really picks up and I was left breathless for every second following.
When I really think about it, I think Episode Seven is my favorite. After a kidnapping attempt, new evidence coming to light via police investigation and a fumbled local news appearance, Murder Club (plus a few SOs and frenemies) convenes at Bronwyn’s vacation house to unleash a truly unhinged sequence of conversations and revelations to save their own skin on a ticking clock from the anonymous Simon Says entity threatening their reputations as well as the lives of those they care about. Y’all, I don’t use “unhinged” lightly, but trust that I mean it so sincerely in the context of this episode. Each scene added another layer to a truly legendary crossover and merger of equals, and the episode displays how strong this ensemble is.
Speaking of brilliant cast performances, I’m so glad that characters such as Vanessa (played by Sarah Thompson), Janae (played by Jess McLeod) and Maeve (played by Melissa Collazo) got their time in the sun as well as their flowers from those around them. I’ve never seen mothering occur like how Sarah Thompson mothered on that screen in her episode, and that is how you Steal The Scene!
There’s also SUCH potential in a (no spoilers, I promise) joint slay team up between Maeve and Keely in Season Three that I just have to pray every night it will come to fruition. I also want to unpack the Natewyn relationship in its entirety, specifically how the Trouble series Zodigby moodboard is prevalent and real within it, but that is a crossover so niche it will remain for my Notes app and my Notes app only. Anyway, the conclusion of this season was fulfilling and full-circle, but there’s always an open door for more. Renewal or not (heaven forbid this show gets cancelled for my brain’s sake) it will surely go out on a high note.
Throw those leftovers out, y’all, and don’t forget to stream! See you next week <3