Mixed feelings on this one. On one hand, the movie is quite fun with a couple interesting twists. The actors do a good enough job keeping the story moving. I also enjoy Benoit Blanc casually putting together all the clues.

That said, the problems are twofold: the lackluster mystery and the insulting preachiness.

A good mystery invites the audience to pick up on subtle clues and later reveals evidence that recontextualizes the clues. A good mystery also rewards the careful viewer by giving enough evidence that they can put it all together in the end.

This movie has big twists that have virtually no set up. But worse, the reveal is so obvious that there's just no point to the subtle clues. There's never a wonder "how did they pull that off" or anything like that. Even the final "twist"--if you can call it that--is so painfully obvious you're just waiting for the movie to end.

The other problem is the preachiness. For one, the movie completely dates itself with bad Covid jokes. And frankly, it makes the movie feel too "real" which makes the caricatures all the more out-of-place.

But the bigger problem is that this is less of a mystery movie than it is a bad political satire. It has no nuance to it--which would be fine if this was just a fun murder mystery with silly characters--which makes the preachy messages absolutely painful. It's hard to take a movie seriously when you have Dave Bautista playing the "most viewed Twitch streamer" as an absurd manisphere caricature. It's classic Hollywood being out-of-touch with a subtle contempt for normal men who like video games.

It also doesn't help that "disruptor" hacks are the villains, but that's kinda what Rian Johnson is. I like The Last Jedi alright, but he took a beloved story with a fanbase he didn't earn and got buzz by "disrupting" expectations. He effectively hijacked someone else's work just like the villain of Glass Onion. But moreover, Johnson's contempt for tradition and historical art just oozes with his treatment of the Mona Lisa. It epitomizes his view "let the past die, burn it if you have to" (literally, if you know what I mean).

If the movie were good like Knives Out, I wouldn't mind. But as it is, mocking art in a knock-off murder mystery on Netflix feels tasteless. Johnson is no doubt talented behind the camera, but this movie oozes with contempt for the audience. And honestly, that's probably why the mystery feels like it's trying to fool us with twists rather than invite us to come to the conclusions ourselves.