Writer/director Rian Johnson has just recorded a director's commentary for the Netflix movie Glass Onion, and it ends a longstanding issue with streaming movies. The 2022 murder mystery movie is a sequel to the 2019 hit Knives Out, and it sees the return of private detective Benoit Blanc, who attempts to solve a murder on a Greek Island belonging to tech billionaire Miles Bron. Johnson created a hilarious, sun-soaked comedy with a brilliant all-star cast, and few other movies feature a group of actors that are so perfectly cast and have so much chemistry.
But Glass Onion isn't just any whodunnit comedy, as the film is so rich with detail, whether it's the characters' costumes, the endless clues to who the killer is, or the hidden pop culture references, and it lends itself to a director's commentary. Netflix released a Glass Onion commentary recorded by Johnson, who goes into great detail about the creative choices he made. In the Glass Onion commentary he pulled back the curtain on all of the film's movie magic, such as digitally altering images where practical effects just wouldn't work. Given how streaming services have lacked special features like director's commentaries, Glass Onion's commentary is a milestone in fixing that.
Glass Onion’s Commentary Could Lead To More Director’s Commentaries On Netflix
While physical media sales are quickly diminishing year-on-year as the vast amount of streaming services have almost anything available at people's fingertips, a different price has been paid by film lovers. DVDs were filled with all sorts of special features and behind-the-scenes footage regarding the movie, along with must-listen-to directors' commentaries, but those have almost become a thing of the past. However, Netflix could change that with the Glass Onion commentary. Netflix has done other director’s commentaries on the Spotify podcast Watch with Netflix, but it was dormant for 1.5 years until Glass Onion. And as Glass Onion is such a high-profile movie, it could potentially lead to more.
Netflix has made a habit out of working with celebrated movie directors, such as Martin Scorsese and David Fincher, making the commentaries even more of a great opportunty. Scorsese has always had insightful things to say in his movie commentaries, and Fincher turned the director's commentary into an art of itself, telling ridiculous stories that may or may not be true, such as the story about Ben Affleck's tantrum while shooting Gone Girl. In his commentaries, Fincher is an unreliable narrator just like the protagonists in his movies. And that's why directors' commentaries are so sorely missed, as they take audiences inside the mind of the person who made their favorite movies.
Glass Onion’s Commentary Could Lead To More Special Features
While directors' commentaries making a major return on Netflix would be another game-changer for the streaming platform, it also opens up the floodgates for potential other bonus features too. Netflix has uploaded special making-of featurettes for certain movies on its YouTube page, but it's way too inconsistent and hard to find. The streamer could feature not just commentaries, but deleted scenes and other special features on its app, just as they were on DVDs. However, it still has a long way to go, as the Glass Onion commentary isn't even on Netflix, but Spotify, and subscribers have to frustratingly sync the podcast with the movie on different devices.