When unlikeable billionaire Miles Bron invites an eccentric group of wealthy friends to his private Greek island, they’re expecting a week of revelry. Activities on the trip include a murder mystery game, where guests must investigate his own, staged, murder.
But when detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) receives an unexpected invitation and arrives at the scene, there’s a real murder to be solved.
Among the guest list is Miles’ (Edward Norton) former business partner Andi Brand (Janelle Monáe), politician Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn), scientist Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom Jr), fashion designer and former model Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson) with her assistant Peg (Jessica Henwick), and influencer Duke Cody (Dave Bautista) and his girlfriend Whiskey (Madelyn Cline). Each character is under the thumb of billionaire Miles (Edward Norton).
Will this detective solve a murder mystery successfully a second time around?
(IMAGE: Netflix)Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is the sequel to the 2019 film directed by Rian Johnson. The only character to return is Benoit Blanc.
For James Bond actor Daniel Craig, the opportunity to return for a second film was enticing even before the first was completed.
”We talked about it during Knives Out, but you’re in the hands of the film gods, really,” the 54-year-old tells TV WEEK.
”We knew it was a lovely film but didn’t know it was going to be so successful. And that’s when the serious conversation started about where we were going to go.”
On set, the cast agreed it was a special film to get to make together.
”It really did feel like it was a summer camp that we didn’t want our parents to come get us from,” Bad Moms star Kathryn Hahn, 49, says.
At weekends, the cast would come together to play the murder mystery game Mafia.
”Because there were so many of us, the games would take three hours and we’d all get more and more progressively drunk – it was hilarious,” Madelyn Cline, 24, says. ”It’s so like a group of actors to say, in our free time, ‘Let’s perform!”’
WATCH NOW: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Trailer. Article continues after video.
Leslie Odom Jr even taught the group of actors how to play chess. But as much as the cast had fun, the film helped each actor push their skills to the limits.
”Sometimes when I thought I’d be going as big as I could possibly go,
I’d hear [director] Rian go, ‘No, go bigger,'” Kate, 43, shares. “I’m like, ‘Bigger? All right. Let’s go!”’
Edward adds that the film, while comedic, is about the balance of power.
”There’s the fun and exuberance and the wish fulfilment of the location, but underneath is a really interesting story about power dynamics between people and how we all vie for that sense of control and power,” the 53-year-old, known for his powerful roles in films such as American History X and Fight Club, says. ”So, I think this is quite layered.”
Will there be trouble in paradise? Something tells us yes…
(IMAGE: Netflix)Above all, Daniel says viewers can expect to be surprised.
”I feel like the language of movies, when it’s reinvented well, works brilliantly, because people are surprised,” he says. ”And that’s what we’ve been aiming for with this.”
**Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will be available to stream on Netflix from December 23.
