In Celebration of “Glass Onion,” I Give You a Murder Mystery List
I’m a massive, unapologetic Rian Johnson nerd. I’ve been obsessed since Brick and simply never looked back.
Rian is masterful when it comes to big, unwieldly casts and 2019’s Knives Out is a wonderful display of that talent. It’s also my ultimate cinematic Reese’s “two great tastes that taste great together” moment. I love mysteries and I love Rian.
To celebrate the upcoming release of the follow-up to Knives Out, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, I’ve decided to be indulgent and put together a list of my favorite Agatha Christie, or Christie-esque, adaptions. Enjoy!
Identity
If you know me, this won’t be a surprise. What is surprising is how often 2003’s Identity is overlooked in the murder mystery category even when its plot so closely follows Christie’s novel “And Then There Were None.”
Identity sees a random grouping of strangers picked off one by one as a retired cop (eternal fav John Cusack) attempts to unravel the mysterious cause. Identity gets far more speculative and twisty with its eventual reveal, but the spirit of Christie’s story remains.
Murder Mystery
I will defend this 2019 Netflix comedy starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston with my dying breath. Yes, I’m very hyperbolic, but it’s also a genuinely funny film with a solid mystery at its center.
Murder Mystery, with its hyper-aware title and premise, understands what you need for a successful, well, murder mystery. It’s got a hefty, well-rounded cast, rich elites, and lots of backstabbing. Sandler’s cop character (I hate the copaganda, but so it goes) provides an immediate reason for his ever-increasing involvement, and Luke Evans is absurdly hot. Lots of reasons to enjoy this one!
The Lady Vanishes
This one’s more “mystery” than “murder,” but it remains one of my favorites in the genre. Like many of Christie’s works, The Lady Vanishes is full of intrigue and drama. We have yet another beefy cast of characters thrown together by happenstance, and this time we even get an unreliable narrator of sorts.
The Lady Vanishes is a Hitchcock classic, but if you’ve avoided it because of its age or premise, I implore you to check it out.
Evil Under the Sun
Our first actual Christie adaptation! And it features my favorite Hercule Poirot, Peter Ustinov.
Evil Under the Sun has yet another stellar cast that includes Maggie Smith, James Mason, Roddy McDowall, Sylvia Miles, and queen Diana Rigg. It’s sunny, resort setting is unique in the Christie cannon, and its humor is timeless.
If you’re going to watch one “classic” Christie, this is my recommendation. Of course, once you see it, you’ll want to seek out all the other Ustinov Poirots, like Appointment With Death and Murder in Three Acts because they’re so good and, like Pringles, once you pop you can’t stop.
Murder On the Orient Express
Look, I don’t like the ’74 Orient Express and I don’t particularly enjoy Albert Finney’s Poirot. The film feels clunky and unbalanced, its pacing odd. The cast is out of this world though: Anthony Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave, Michael York, Ingrid Bergman, Lauren Bacall, and so on… So if any of those names are motivation, I wouldn’t dream of warning you off this classic that other people seem really into. I’d just rather watch the 2017 Branagh version.
But this isn’t an entry about the modern adaptation, no! It’s actually a sneaky recommendation to listen to the Orient Express tie-in audiobook read by Branagh.
Here Are Some Other Recs
Only Murders in the Building captures all the best things about the murder mystery genre. Available on Hulu.
The Mirror Crack’d (1980), a Miss Marple mystery with Angela Lansbury, Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, and Kim Novak. (I told you, I’m a sucker for these casts.)
Crooked House (2017) blesses us with another stunning cast (Gillian Anderson, Glenn Close, Terence Stamp, Christina Hendricks) and is an overall fantastic adaptation of one of my favorite Christie novels.
The 2015 And Then There Were None mini-series is not without its issues, but again, the cast and the framework more than make up for any qualms I had with it. Charles Dance, Sam Neill, and Burn Gorman? Yes, please!
I’m actually reading The Man in the Brown Suit now, and I think it’s made me appreciate this 1989 TV movie a hell of a lot more. Rue McClanahan, Tony Randall, and Edward Woodward lead this sort-of-thrilling story about a lady and some diamonds. (This one seems difficult to find for rent or stream.)
1972’s Endless Night isn’t a really a murder mystery, at least not in its structure. I’m pretty forgiving though because all the non-murder and mystery is extremely weird. Come for Hayley Mills and Britt Ekland, stay for wild house and song that will surely wind up stuck in your head. Available through Kanopy.
Both the ’45 and ’65 And Then There Were None leave me a little wanting. But that premise is still gold, so if you’re like me and can’t get enough, I’d definitely be sure to check these both out. The 1945 adaption is available on Tubi, Kanopy, and loads of others.
And lastly, my favorite Christie mini-series is 2018’s Ordeal by Innocence. This one is super accessible, so if you somehow found this list, scrolled this far down, and have found yourself thinking, “I want something with more modern sensibilities, more Knives Outy,” this one’s for you. Matthew Goode is also phenomenal. Available through Amazon Prime.