Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery spoilers follow.
Central to Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery isn't just whodunnit, but why. In this latest outing starring Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, writer-director Rian Johnson teased out with aplomb the best bits of the murder mystery and introduced layer upon layer for us to indulge in.
It turns out that it isn't just one murder we have to contend with, but two. And, in a true Johnson fake-out, for a split second there we think its actually three. Andi (Janelle Monáe) is shot by Miles Bron (Edward Norton) — only, she's not Andi at all.
As soon as she sits up, having miraculously survived her gunshot wound, we are treated to a glimpse of the past which reveals that Andi yes, is dead, but not of a gunshot – rather, her twin sister named Helen thinks she was poisoned, and thinks Miles or one of his sycophants is responsible.
This extra layer of acting on Monáe's part was done deftly, and while we don't see much of the real Andi – save for flashbacks to courtroom scenes – we do get a glimpse of the ways in which Helen tries to be her sister. Those clues are laid ever so subtly by Glass Onion's costume designer, Jenny Eagan.
This is Eagan's second time working with Johnson on a Knives Out mystery — she designed the first film (and that internet breaking sweater). "It's an honour and a privilege to do these films with Rian," Eagan told Digital Spy.
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Designing costumes for people pretending to be other people adds a layer of meta-contextualisation that Eagan integrated into Monáe's costume: "We started with Andi, and the idea that the audience thinks this is Andi." From there, she incporated the idea that "Helen would have always gotten to [Andi's] closet and taken her clothes".
"So, who [Andi] is, creating that character and who that strong powerful woman was, it was there to make a point. It was all very strong and simplistic yet stunning.
"Then it slowly got to: 'Okay, who is Helen?' [But] I think the bigger question wasn't who was Andi but who was Helen, and how do you differentiate enough? Which I think with great help from her makeup, you know, it's like even the nails are different colour — it's simple things."
Helen, however, wasn't going to be dowdy — she is a modern woman, after all. "I didn't want to make her so simple, like a school teacher. But she's also grieving, searching [for the answer to] who's done this to her sister?"
Eagan's main port of call to differentiate between the twins was colour palette. "Andi is bold and bright and red, but at the hotel when [Helen is] going through everything with Blanc, it's that beautiful yellow dress [that Helen chooses]. There was a little bit more of Helen around there, there's softer version — taking her time to sort of get into being Andi and then she lands on that."
For audiences, however, we see her first when she lands on the dock and Andi/Helen – by way of Eagan's design – made a bold statement. "It's like, oh, there she is. That dress, for me was one of my favourites. It's so stunning on her."
Monáe herself is aware of the power of fashion — her own style is showstopping, and Eagan was aware of her status as a fashion icon. "In my job, you really have to step away and say: 'This isn't Janelle Monae we're dressing'. She's so excellent at that, there was never a moment that she walked in the room and was like: 'Oh, because of this, I have to be this', it was always about the character."
Speaking to Digital Spy, Monáe lauded Eagan's design and the power of fashion. She said: "I think through fashion you can always tell a story, and with the clothes and my character, whether those characters are created in a music world, a film or TV space, you want their clothes to kind of say something.
"I had so much fun playing around with this character and I have to give a big shout out to Jenny, I think it was like my first fitting. When I saw everything, we pretty much kept everything from that first meeting. We had one conversation and she brought in some things that I just loved."
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is now available on Netflix.
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Gabriella Geisinger is a freelance film critic and journalist, with a focus on J-drama & film, and the Japanese production industry. She was previously Locations Editor at Screen International and Deputy Movies Editor at Digital Spy. Her writing can also befound in Curzon, 1883, and more. A born and raised New Yorker, she loves coffee and the colour black, obviously.
