Will Daniel Craig Get More Queer Time in Knives Out 3?

“My name is Blanc, Benoit Blanc,” the veteran 007 might say casually. Daniel Craig (57) clearly does not do that. He wanted to free himself from the Bond image, which he recently managed to shake off in Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer,” containing plenty of provocative sex scenes.
It works just as well as a gay master detective Blanc. Following “Knives Out – Murder Is a Family Affair” in 2019, three years later comes “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” in which Hugh Grant casually plays Blanc’s husband. Now, the third chapter arrives. It is also said to be the last, as director and writer Rian Johnson revealed at the London Film Festival.
What a pity, because this sequel offers everything a “Knives” coup needs. Fantastically oddball characters. Superb tension. Witty twists. A-list star power. And a grand Daniel Craig with screen-dominant ease. Will the queer aspect of his character be developed further? At 144 minutes, there would be plenty of time for that! And if Josh O’Connor (“God’s Own Country”) is around….

Out-of-control Reverend, fanatical Monsignor

Oh, how often does one hear or read about evil priests. For instance, the young priest Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor), who floors a deacon with his fists. As punishment, the unruly man of God is reassigned to the small church community “Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude” in northern New York.
There the shady Monsignore Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) wields the reins. Because he likes to pepper his fanatical sermons with bitterly sharp, very personal insults, his flock has been fleeing in droves. Left behind are only his longtime aide Martha (Glenn Close), the custodian Samson (Thomas Haden Church), the lawyer Vera (Kerry Washington), whose adopted son Cy (Daryl McCormack), the writer Lee (Andrew Scott), the doctor Nat (Jeremy Renner) and the wheelchair-bound cellist Simone (Cailee Spaeny).
In the middle of the service, a murder occurs
From the moment the new boss’s quirks become evident, the young priest gets his first taste of the chaos. He is supposed to hear the confession of the Monsignore in the church garden. Revealing its unusually content would spoil the fun. That’s the crux of the “Knives Out” trilogy. The tightly woven whodunit-Net of misdirections and intrigues resists spoilers as readily as a soufflé resists an open oven door. So, here is as much of the story as one needs: in the middle of the service, a murder occurs. The local police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) asks the master detective Benoit Blanc to lend a hand in solving the mysterious crime.
For the devout congregation, the killer is quickly obvious. The ice-cold detective instead bets on hard evidence. As his clues multiply, the church members fare like the “Ten Little Indians” in the old children’s rhyme. Even in the acid bath, skeletons are soon found.

Humor and razor-sharp social critique

The mystery at first takes its time, but soon the dramaturgy intensifies dramatically, and in the final third, it deftly tightens the suspense. Humor has always been half the battle in “Knives,” and the star-studded cast clearly enjoys it.
Beyond the merriment, there is a piercing social critique. The Monsignore increasingly mutates into a hate preacher of the vilest sort. It’s also a pointed parody of the real right-wing influencers and fanatical populists. “Make Satire Great Again” is the motto the moment this Monsignore appears. Josh Brolin takes devilish pleasure in this bigoted pastor-devil. The fact that he talks about his masturbation fantasies so insistently during his confession to the young priest adds an extra layer of comedy to his character’s name, Wicks, for German-speaking audiences.

Is there something going on between Craig and Josh O’Connor?
So, how queer will the crime be with the gay detective involved? Could there be something between Craig and Josh O’Connor? A dangerously stylish detective duo with superb on-screen presence certainly makes for an odd couple. Is the idea of them solving murders together or holding hands a possibility? After all, Benoit plays a bit of Phantom of the Opera on the church organ.
And then there’s Glenn Close, famously “a woman you never forget.” Or does queerness perhaps not matter at all? Nothing is impossible! The game with expectations is the thrill in this ghostly thriller. Spoiling, that razor-sharp conclusion, is simply not allowed with “Knives Out.”