Clues, red herrings, and eccentric character actors doing unplaceable European accents? That’s right: the whodunit movie is well and truly back. On November 23rd, 2022, the next installment in the genre,Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, will be released in U.S. theaters.
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The film sees the return ofDaniel Craig’sslick criminal-catching molasses-tongued genius, Benoit Blanc,as he attempts to solve another donut within a donut.Rian Johnson’sKnives Outseries inspired a resurgence of murder mysteries, but, of course, there was already a long history of silver screen whodunits that viewers can delve into before the highly-anticipated premiere.
‘Last of Sheila’ (1973)
One year after gossip columnist Sheila dies in a car accident, her former husband invites his Hollywood friends to his yacht for a game of secrets, betrayal, and murder. Although the 1973 whodunit featured incredible on-screen talent (James Coburn, James Mason, Raquel Welch, and a very youngIan McShane), its writers were just as famous:Anthony Perkins(Norman Bates fromPsycho) and a young Broadway composer namedStephen Sondheim.
Their script is packed with elicit affairs, hidden pasts, and, of course, a mysterious death. But more than that, it’s just flat out funny and amajor inspiration for Rian Johnson’sKnives Outseries. It’s hilarious, filled with stars, and even takes place on boat. There’s just no better primer forGlass Onion.
‘Gosford Park’ (2011)
A wealthy and ornery English industrialist welcomes a group of socialites and servants to his country house for a weekend of hunting. But when someone turns up dead, the hunters become the hunted.
DirectorRobert Altman’s pitch-black satire about class goes down like 50-year-old Scotch laced with arsenic. Ironically, it eventually served as the inspiration for the more tameDownton Abbey(the screenwriter,Julian Fellows, created the show).Gosford Parkearned its own acclaim though — including seven Oscar nominations — for its stellar performances, Fellows’ viciously clever script, and a brilliant final twist.
‘Clue’ (1985)
Though a send-up of whodunits, the 1985 adaptation of the famous board game is a fantastic murder mystery in its own right. Six dinner guests arrive at a dark and gloomy mansion for dinner with the mysterious Mr. Boddy. But when they discover Boddy’s body, they have to uncover clues to find the killer.
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Everyone knows thatClueis hilarious. Its third act is one of the funniest in film history, thanks toMadeline Kahn’s iconic “flames” monologue,Tim Curry’s exuberant explanations, andMichael McKean’s indelible final line. ButClueis also a genuinely wonderful whodunit, made special by its multiple endings. Upon its release, only one of the three would be shown in theaters. Luckily, on streaming, viewers can watch all three in one sitting and then roll right intoGlass Onion.
‘Murder on the Orient Express’ (1974)
Agatha Christie’s1934 novel has becomeone of the most famous works of detective fictionever published and perhaps the best known of the Hercule Poirot books (depending on one’s opinion ofDeath on the Nile).In 1974, DirectorSidney LumetadaptedMurder on the Orient Expressfor the screen, redefining the whodunit genre forever.
Albert Finneystarred as the famous Poirot, a genius detective who just wants to go on vacation. Annoyingly though, a man is murdered, and Poirot has to solve the crime before the train pulls into the station. Lumet surrounded Finney with an incredible cast of Hollywood legends, young and old, includingLauren Bacall, Martin Balsam, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery,andVanessa Redgrave, just to name a few. The film was a massive success, earning six Oscar nominations and creating a new standard for the on-screen murder mystery.
‘Sleuth’ (1972)
Joseph L. MankiewiczdirectedAll About Eve.Michael Cainewas one of the brightest young actors of his generation. AndLaurence Olivierplayed Hamlet, inHamlet. InSleuth, the three of them teamed up to make a very silly movie.
Olivier plays a brilliant mystery novelist with an idea for an insurance scam. He just needs the help of his wife’s lover, played by Caine. Except, it’s not quite what it seems. In fact, inSleuth, nothing is as it seems. Two years beforeOrient Express,Mankiewicz’s adaptation ofAnthony Shaffer’s Tony Award-winning play deconstructed the whodunit and the con-farce in one fell swoop. The film was no doubt an inspiration forGlass Onion,as well as Johnson’s 2008 con-man flickThe Brothers Bloom.
‘The 39 Steps’ (1935)
Hitchcock always believed there was nothing more frightening than an innocent man accused of a crime he didn’t commit. He revisited that theme again and again in films likeNorth by Northwestand the suitably titledThe Wrong Man.One of his earliest efforts in the sub-genre came in 1935 withThe 39 Steps.
An unassuming man is both accused of murder and hunted by assassins, all while attempting to uncover the conspiracy of the39 Steps.The 1935 film is just as watchable today as it was then. Though perhaps little known in 2022 pop culture, the movie was a seminal moment in the evolution of motion picture entertainment.ChinatownscreenwriterRobert Towneonce even said,“It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that all contemporary escapist entertainment begins withThe 39 Steps.'”
‘Witness for the Prosecution’ (1957)
Witness for the Prosecutioncrosses a classic murder mystery with the thrill of watching a defense attorney pick apart an elderly witness using her application for a hearing aid. The film, directed byBilly Wilder, was adapted from, of course, an Agatha Christie play. The movie lives up to the expectations of any Christie story.
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Witness for the Prosecutionfollows a curmudgeonly English lawyer, played by the greatCharles Laughton, who comes out of retirement to defend an innocent man accused of murder. However, it’s not so cut and dry for the seasoned litigator. He has to work with the accused’s disconcerting wife (Marlene Dietrich), a woman so calm and cold that it’s obvious there must be something sinister going on beneath the surface.
‘The Hateful Eight’ (2015)
A group of Tarantino regulars in cowboy hats is locked in a middle-of-nowhere shelter in the middle of a blizzard. One of the bounty hunters (Kurt Russell) is carrying precious cargo, and he knows someone is going to try to kill him for it.
Quentin Tarantino’s8th filmwas just as beholden toThe ThingandThe Searchersas Agatha Christie. His script combined the throbbing paranoia ofJohn Carpenter’ssci-fi chamber piece with the play-like quality of Christie’s most well-remembered plays and books. Who’s the killer? Who isn’t what they say they are? These are the questions Carpenter and Christie relished in their seminal works. And here Tarantino basks in that same glow, producing a single location epic that’d be just as fitting on the West End as on 70mm.
‘Rashomon’ (1950)
When a man is killed and a woman sexually assaulted, four people recount their own perspectives. But, of course, each one is completely different, and the viewers must piece together who is telling the truth and who is the killer.
As significant to the evolution of cinematic storytelling as any film ever made,Akira Kurosawa’s1950 classicRashomonis a whodunit in retrospect. It’s as much a courtroom drama and murder mystery as an allegory about the fluidity of truth and justice. Today, it’s rememberedas an all-time classic and a must-see for anyone who loves historically-significant movies.
‘Knives Out’ (2019)
What other movie could be a better appetizer forGlass Onionthan the original entry in the burgeoning whodunit franchise? Rian Johnson’s star-studded reimagining of the genre burst into the 2019 box office, netting$311 million dollars, it just ahead ofTerminator: Dark Fateand just behindJohn Wick 3.
The money’s impressive, but not as much as Johnson’s sparkling script. Throughout his career (Looper,Last Jedi),Johnson has flipped the genre on its head, and the originalKnives Outwas no different. Like Benoit Blanc taught fans: It’s not just a donut. It’s donuts within donuts within donuts.
