Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery - 1 nomination

 

Best Adapted Screenplay
Rian Johnson

A group of friends who love mystery and puzzles gather at the home of Tech billionaire Miles Bron. Each comes with his or her own back story and complications, and they are particularly jarred when their former friend (and Bron's former business partner) Andi Brand arrives and joins them for this exclusive experience.  But when renowned private detective Benoit Blanc receives his own invitation, the group (and especially the host) is curious, as Bron never sent Blanc an invitation. We learn that Bron is on the brink of marketing an alternative energy source called Klear which he claims is safe, but perhaps at least one member of the group knows otherwise.  The real mystery unfolds when two members of the group are killed, and Benoit Blanc must leap into action and solve the crimes. The movie is great fun and holds up to the original Knives Out film, for which Rian Johnson was also nominated.  (And in an Oscars twist, his first nomination for Knives Out was for Original Screenplay. In this film, because the character and story is based on that original film, he is now nominated for Adapted Screenplay.  Isn't that fun? Or am I just an Oscars nerd? Oh well, two things can be true.)

SPOILER ALERT - if you haven't seen the film and don't want to know what happens, do not read on. I will not address all of the surprises in the movie except one, and unfortunately, I think it's the hole in the plot that makes no sense. The story unfolds and we learn that Andi has a twin sister and that Andi herself has died, and that the person who actually shows up to the island, the person who received the invitation to the island, is actually the twin sister Helen.  (Janelle Monae plays both parts.) We learn that it is Miles Bron who, in fact, killed Andi, and that Andi didn't die by suicide.  When Helen/Andi arrives at the island, Bron welcomes her and says he is really glad she came.  But here's the thing, HE killed Andi.  HE knows that the real Andi is dead. So why would he send the real Andi an invitation to the weekend, and why would he not know that the person who stands before him is Helen, and not the Andi that he murdered? This plot hole undermines the entire story, so it's a pretty big one. Unless someone can point to something in the film that reveals that Bron knew that the guest was Helen all along (and there is nothing in the movie to suggest that he thinks this person is anyone but Andi), it's a bit of a problem.  Having said that, it's a super fun film and who even cares?  

I heard Rian Johnson interviewed and one of the points that he makes is that a well written murder mystery film like these or Agatha Christie's don't need hints so that the audience can solve it ourselves. They need to be joyrides with big surprises at the end. And this one was more than enough for me to be entertained.