Spoiler alert: I am trying very hard not to give any major spoilers. I am commenting on the Glass Onion movie and the plot. You will learn things that you wouldn’t like to know if you haven’t watched it yet… if so, please pause here and come back after you have watched it, the movie is totally worth it! Specially for the holidays season.
Layers like a fugue
We start at the very beginning with a fugue by Bach (BWV 578 “Little Fugue”, or rather an arrangement of it). They hooked me up right there! Bach is my favorite composer, and counterpoint and fugue are very dear to my heart. This composition style enabled the transition from the unidimensional Gregorian Chant from the middle ages. It evolved into the multidimensional, polyphonic works of the Renaissance and Baroque period. It is to music what the development of perspective is to painting. This is also very appropriate for the construction of the plot. Like an onion, you have several layers. Together, they make a whole.
Agatha Christie references
We can’t ignore the several references to Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot. It begins with Benoit Blanc, the detective itself. By the way, I loved that they made him clearly gay. Hugh Grant’s cameo appearance as Phillip, his partner, was delightful. From the recluse island of And Then There Were None. The first time the hourly gong was played, it reminded me of the recording of the voice. This voice let the suspects know why they were there. To the elaborate plot of Evil Under the Sun with hints to the time when the events occurred. On the other hand, the story departs clearly from the Golden Age mystery plot. The action moves back and forth in time as the story unfolds. Each time, it peels one layer of the onion. In the end, we return to the classic “everyone in one room gathering” when the solution is finally revealed.
The explicit pandemic references were sweet and sour to me. There were allusions to conspiratorial theories that it was all fabricated. Some even suggested that at least there was a vaccine or antidote early on, available only to the ultra rich. This also helps to set the tone against all the suspects, which were labeled as disruptor innovators. They are there to break things and put new ones in place, even to the detriment of the entire society.
As in the earlier Knives Out movie, Glass Onion has a stellar cast with spot on interpretations. Kudos to all of them and the director!