I need to need to geek out over Janelle Monáe in Glass Onion
Big spoiler ahead… YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
I can not get over Janelle Monáes performance in this movie. Holy shit she was good. I mean when we see her arrive in Greece (her second appearance on screen) both my sister and I said that she looked different from the first appearance. We quickly came to the conclusion that the hair was off (she must have cut it) and only on the rewatch did I realise that we don’t see her hair because she’s wearing a towel. (And it’s kinda funny that we were right, she did cut her hair, but obviously that’s just luck in the guess)
The point I’m making isn’t that I saw the big twin reveal from the beginning because I certainly did not! No what I’m saying is that Janelle did such an amazing job with her character that my subconscious realised that she was suppose to be two different people (or one person pretending to be so one els) from just two scenes and before she’s even said ONE WORD.
I mean that is just amazing. And she does it so subtlety that you don’t even realise she’s doing it because your not suppose to until much later and then it becomes obvious and you wonder how you didn’t see it… but you did. That first scene where she’s still Helen and then the next she’s Andi and there’s just something a little bit off.
And then I rewatch it and I just geek out even more because Blanc even says it in the restaurant scene “just remember, Rich Bitch voice, Andi posture” and that’s what my brain picked up but I didn’t on the first watch. That little difference in posture, in facial expression, and it returns when the Helen story is revealed. Helenes shoulders are more relaxed, her face is more open, eyes are bigger. Andi always have lowered eyelids, like she’s analysing everything and seeing through you, but Helens eyes are more open more honest. Yes the two characters talk different but what really gets me all exited is that I could turn off the sound and Janelle Monáe would still be able to tell me which character she’s playing in the way she subtly plays them different. Like that is amazing and I just love her. She did such a good job! I could watch this movie just for her alone.
All the other actors did an amazing job as well. I’m not trying to say they didn’t, but Janelle stole the show for me. She is a a master and we do not deserve her.
