Movies - TV
Rian Johnson Explains Why Glass Onion Takes Place During The Pandemic
By MICHAEL BOYLE
Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion” made the challenging choice of setting its story in the middle of the pandemic. “The marching orders of these movies [...] are to set them in the present moment,” said Johnson; however, the writer-director explained that the pandemic background perfectly complemented the movie’s theme rather than becoming a hindrance.
Quarantine helped to initially explain why Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) would be so willing to fly off to a mysterious murder mystery party, and the choices for each character's masks in the early dock scene helped to highlight their sensibilities in a fun, topical way. The biggest challenge for Johnson was preventing the pandemic from making things feel too gloomy.
One of the most memorable scenes featured Ethan Hawke’s character shooting what appears to be some sort of advanced, early COVID-19 vaccine into every character’s mouth. Johnson said that the moment reflected the rumors that were going around during the pandemic that the rich had early access to a secret version of a COVID-19 vaccine.