Rian Johnson explains why he turned the ‘Knives Out’ formula on its head for ‘Glass Onion’

Netflix may not be known for making good decisions these days, but even they manage to strike gold every now and again, and perhaps the shiniest example of all was their deal with Rian Johnson, the scribe and directorial gaffer behind hit whodunit Knives Out, which gifted them (and audiences) two more sequels to the murder mystery.

The first of these sequels, the curiously titled Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, is set to land on Netflix this holiday season, and judging especially by today’s brand new trailer for the film, it looks like Benoit Blanc’s adventures won’t have many competitors in the flexibility department.

Indeed, where the original Knives Out featured a subversive truth to the nuances of the murder — and the equally subversive benevolence with which Blanc fields them — all against a thematic backdrop of immigration and nepotism, Glass Onion looks to be taking a completely different route. Blanc, for example, seems to be in just as much danger as the rest of the innocent-until-proven-guilty parties, who themselves embody a tantalizing spectrum of the post-capitalist dystopia archetypes that we often associate with the likes of tech billionaires, corrupt politicians, and social media influencers who make for questionable role models.

Needless to say, the plight of the Thrombeys and that of Blanc’s second excursion will likely only have the detective himself as far as similarities go, and in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Johnson didn’t hide the fact that such an approach was entirely intentional.

“I wanted to establish right off the bat that every single [Knives Out movie] is going to be a very different animal. Each one of them must have its own reason for being and its own theme. It’s not just repeating a formula, but using this genre to create a whole new formula every time.”

Whether you’re a fan or detractor of Johnson’s, applause must be given for the daring path of originality, and it’s a safe bet that just as much applause will continue to pour out when Glass Onion makes its limited theatrical bow on Nov. 23 before moving to its permanent home on Netflix on Dec. 23.