‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’ and the Top Five Puzzle Movies

‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’full spoilers

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery 2022

Rian Johnson's sequel to Knives Out, Daniel Craig back as Benoit Blanc among six friends on tech billionaire Miles Bron's (Edward Norton) Greek island. Sean and Amanda read it as roughly 65% puzzle movie, 35% murder mystery, broader and zanier than the first. High points: Craig getting most of the good lines, Janelle Monáe's twin-sister doubling as Andi/Helen, and the string of cameos. Sean's big reading is the burned Mona Lisa as Johnson flipping off Netflix: the tech money that paid for his future while gutting theaters. Both flag the flimsy premise that these six very different people were ever friends, and that the garish island house isn't much of an escape.

Sean's Top Five Puzzle MoviesNo. 1 last on air

No. 1

The Game 1997

No. 1. David Fincher's mean-spirited puzzle, hard to solve because the film keeps you locked inside Michael Douglas's experience. The taxi hurtling into the bay is his favorite bit.

No. 2

Nine Queens 2000

No. 2. Fabián Bielinski's Argentine con-man film with Ricardo Darín; one of Sean's first art-house experiences. Skip the U.S. remake with John C. Reilly and Diego Luna.

No. 3

House of Games 1987

No. 3. David Mamet's con-artist film with Joe Mantegna and Lindsay Crouse: a psychiatrist who thinks she's a step ahead of the grifters and is a step behind. Sean's detective dad showed it to him young.

No. 4

The Sixth Sense 1999

No. 4. Like Memento, a twist movie that rewards a walk back through the steps once you know Bruce Willis's character is a ghost.

No. 5

Memento 2000

No. 5. Christopher Nolan told in reverse. The pieces snap together as it unfurls, and unlike Inception it actually makes sense. Sean's Nolan pick over Amanda's Inception.

Amanda's Top Five Puzzle MoviesNo. 1 last on air; No. 2 gifted by Sean mid-episode

No. 1

Arrival 2016

No. 1. One of Amanda's favorite movies of the century, marrying puzzle and story: time working differently, some things seen not yet happened. She hasn't rewatched since having a kid and isn't sure she can.

No. 2

Donnie Darko 2001

No. 2. Amanda was stuck at two; Sean handed it to her as a Christmas present off his honorable-mentions list.

No. 3

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2004

No. 3. The only context in which Amanda likes the movie: a puzzle about why a relationship didn't work and whether it can again. She thinks the answer is that both characters are annoying, but calls the premise clever.

No. 4

Inside Man 2006

No. 4. Spike Lee heist where the heist is a puzzle you don't see coming; Sean wishes Lee had two or three more like it. Great Denzel, great New York movie.

No. 5

Inception 2010

No. 5. Amanda's Nolan pick. She admits she doesn't fully understand it and treats it as a literal folding puzzle, but has fun with it. Sean dislikes it: too busy explaining how it fits when it doesn't.

Also mentioned raised along the way

In the ‘Glass Onion’ talk Knives OutThe Last of SheilaDeath on the NileStar Wars: The Last JediBrickThe Brothers BloomLooperDark PassageMamma Mia!MoonlightMurder Mystery

Sean's puzzle-movie honorable mentions The Usual SuspectsShutter IslandFight ClubThe PrestigeSolarisCode UnknownGet OutMidsommarPersonaThe Parallax ViewTenetSource CodeTwelve Monkeys

Also raised as puzzle movies Ocean's ElevenDie Hard with a VengeanceMulholland DriveInland EmpireSide EffectsPicnic at Hanging RockLove Actually

Name-checked in passing Avatar: The Way of WaterOppenheimerDunkirkThe KillerWhite NoiseBabylonArgentina, 1985Wild TalesEverybody KnowsThe Secret in Their Eyes

Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads

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