Starring: James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sarah Paulson, Spencer Treat Clark, Charlayne Woodard
OUR RATING: ★★★½
Story:
Superhero horror-thriller sequel written, co-produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Glass (2019) follows security guard David Dunn (Bruce Willis) who uses his abilities to track Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), aka The Beast, a disturbed man who has 24 personalities, in a series of escalating encounters while the shadowy presence of Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), aka Mr. Glass, emerges as an orchestrator who holds secrets critical to both men.
Our Favorite Quote:
Best Quotes
Dennis: We keep bringing him sacred food, and nothing’s happening. I… The Beast, he’s shown himself twice to the masses of the broken, and they’re not believing. There’s no revolution. I…
Patricia: Dennis, do not be scared. You have to trust me, as you always have.
Patricia: [Kevin dressed at Patricia walks up to the cheerleaders he’s kidnapped] Look at you all. My name is Patricia. Now, who would like a PB and J sandwich? You do.
Hedwig: [to the tied up cheerleaders as he roller skates playfully] The Beast is going to come for you guys any minute now, and I get to greet him. It’s my big reward for keeping the Horde in the light. I get to take him to the masses of the broken. I better go. He can come at any second and I don’t want him coming and finding roller skates on his feet. Miss Patricia would find out, and she’d get angry, et cetera.
Dr. Ellie Staple: [to David] My name is Dr. Ellie Staple, and I’m a psychiatrist. This room must look nefarious. The walls are equipped with forty-six high pressured nozzles, all connected to a fifteen thousand gallon water tank outside. It will only be triggered if you are threatening or trying to escape.
Dr. Ellie Staple: This is a hypnosis light…
Dennis: Dennis.
Dr. Ellie Staple: My pleasure, Dennis.
Dr. Ellie Staple: You are being monitored. If, for some reason, there’s a threatening identity in the room, the light will automatically strobe and force a different identity to take over.
Dennis: [referring to David] Who was the man? He was as strong as The Beast.
Dr. Ellie Staple: The man people in this city have been talking about. The only person to survive that train wreck all those years ago.
Dr. Ellie Staple: [to David] Maybe this will all make sense if I explain who I am. I specialize in a particular type of delusion of grandeur. I specialize in those individuals who believe they are superheroes. I’ve been given three days to treat you by whatever means necessary.
Pierce: [to Elijah] You won’t be lonely anymore. You have two new friends.
[Kevin transforms to some of his other personalities after trying to attack an institution nurse]
Ian: I’m Ian. Alright? I’m Ian.
Mary: And I’m Mary Reynolds. We’re twins. Do you know what would have happened if she’d have gotten to that key, you gobs**te? The Horde would have killed you.
Mrs. Price: [referring to Elijah] I try to come once every week. Sometimes, I admit, I have neglected a week here and there. He’s changed over the years. I can tell he’s given up. It’s hard to see. He thinks he was a mistake. I’m not saying he did good things. He didn’t. Those poor people didn’t deserve to die like that. But he’s trying to make sense of who he is. Ain’t we all doing that?
Dr. Ellie Staple: Yes, ma’am, we are. They keep him heavily sedated. This is an enormous amount of sedation.
Mrs. Price: He’s too smart for them. When they first brought him here, he memorized a blueprint left out from an electrician, and short-circuited the power to the whole hospital. He’s good at thinking through things. He has this notion that superheroes are based on people like him, and that other gentleman I read is here, Mr. Dunn.
Dr. Ellie Staple: Would it surprise you to know there are more and more people who have this delusion? It is actually the center of my work.
Mrs. Price: Yes, it would.
Mrs. Price: [to a heavily sedated Elijah] You don’t let them get you down, Elijah. You hear me? Stay proud.
Jalin: [to Daryl] I was so amped! We almost got you, bro!
David Dunn: [referring to Kevin] You’re keeping him here without guards? I have to get out of here before he gets out.
Dr. Ellie Staple: The individual who came with you is contained.
Felida: [to Staple] Por favor, senora.
Felida: [in Spanish] My heart hurts from what the Horde has done. They think it’s right. It’s not right to hurt!
Hedwig: [to Casey] No way! You tried so hard to get away from us, and now you come back and see us? You are so weird.
Dr. Ellie Staple: [to David, Elijah, and Kevin] I understand that the three of you think you are superhuman. That you don’t think you are normal. You’ve convinced yourselves you have extraordinary gifts, like something out of a comic book. I am here to discuss the possibility that you are mistaken.
Hedwig: [referring to Elijah and David] Listen, I don’t know about these other guys, but we are like a superhero. No? We’re like…
Hedwig: [sings The Fanfare] We’re not crazy!
Dr. Ellie Staple: David, I don’t think this applies just to Kevin and his disorder. Is there a memory? What you’re looking for is a moment of weakness that made you possibly entertain the idea of being super strong.
Dr. Ellie Staple: I hate to see you like this. This is not how I would’ve done things. I don’t approve of how they’ve handled you. Elijah, because of your condition, I didn’t have to do an MRI on you. There are a few in your file. You definitely have one of the markers for this disorder, Elijah. As do you, Kevin. These are the medical reasons I’m thinking you have this disorder.
Dr. Ellie Staple: [to David] Now let’s deal with why you think you don’t.
Dr. Ellie Staple: How do you know who’s good and who’s bad, David? Convince me.
David Dunn: It’s a feeling.
Dr. Ellie Staple: An intuition, when you see someone.
David Dunn: I have to touch them.
Dr. Ellie Staple: What does the intuition feel like?
David Dunn: A vision. A moment. A sin. You kind of have to interpret it.
Dr. Ellie Staple: Have you ever seen very good magicians, David? I mean, the very best. They are trained as mentalists, and they can do seemingly extraordinary feats. They accomplish these feats by interpreting hundreds of cues that an individual is giving off in a split second. I think you are like these professional guessers, David. You are world-class at it, simply extraordinary at it. But it is based on real things, and you are making the picture. It is not coming to you through mystical means.
Dr. Ellie Staple: [referring to Kevin]These are the clothes that the patient next to you came in with when he arrived. There’s red clay staining the pants. It’s very visible. Is it possible that you saw something on the news, then saw an adult acting like a child, someone who fit the bill of someone with this disorder, intuited, “This might be the person I’m looking for?” Saw the red clay, and thought he might be hiding in a place with red clay?
David Dunn: No.
Dr. Ellie Staple: You’re certain?
David Dunn: You’re creating a chain of thoughts that never happened.
[Kevin as Patricia chuckles and does a mocking clap]
Patricia: You really dissected him, Doctor. Good for you.
Patricia: What do you want?
Elijah Price: Ma’am, I’m here to see if the tales of the extraordinary being are real, the half-man, half-creature.
Patricia: Patricia. But I appreciate your manners. I don’t know anymore.
Elijah Price: I’m a comic book expert, Patricia. I believe comic books are a continuation of documentation that has gone on for centuries of what humans are capable of. That they are what someone somewhere saw or felt. Are you aware that spandex, the underwear on the outside, and boots come from strongmen in the circus in the 1930s?
Patricia: No.
Elijah Price: The freak show men who could do incredible feats of strength. I urge you to look past the capes and monologuing villains. Are you with me?
Patricia: Yes.
Elijah Price: I only have a minute left. I believe The Beast may be part of this. There are references to man, slash, animal characters. The dual character, the man who has abilities like animals. And I’d like to meet The Beast, see if he’s real. If he is, then I’ll get us all out of here tomorrow night.
Elijah Price: What’s upsetting you, Patricia?
Patricia: What if he can’t do these extraordinary things? What if he is just unwell? Like you.
Elijah Price: Everything extraordinary can be explained away, and yet it is true. I think deep down you know this. Everything we will see and do will have a basis in science, but it will have limits. This is the real world, not a cartoon. And yet some of us don’t die from bullets. Some of us can still bend steel. That is not a fantasy.
Patricia: Hm. If you really think you can get us all out, then you may meet The Beast. But for your sake, I hope he likes you.
Patricia: What do we call you, sir?
Elijah Price: First name, Mister. Last name, Glass.
Hedwig: Hey, Miss Patricia says that your bones can break if I like tap them. Is that true?
Elijah Price: Yes.
Hedwig: Uh, so what’s your superpower? Your mind?
[Elijah nods]
Hedwig: What’s mine?
Elijah Price: You’re nine forever, right?
Hedwig: Yeah.
Elijah Price: That’s incredible. You can see the world the way it really is. Always. Kid who can never grow old.
Elijah Price: Are you ready?
[Kevin nods]
Elijah Price: Are you ready?
Hedwig: Yeah.
Elijah Price: They’ve been lying to us all.
The Beast: You believe?
Elijah Price: Yes, I do. It’s what I’ve believed my whole life.
The Beast: They are losing faith. My Horde is losing faith!
Elijah Price: In comics, you would go to a public place where all could see you. A place celebrating man’s pedestrian achievements. But you need David to convince them. You should fight him in front of the world. The tallest building in this city is opening today. All the cameras in the world will record you. You can convince the Horde and the world at the same time, we exist.
The Beast: Why are you in this chair, child?
Elijah Price: My bones break easily. I was born this way. I’ve had ninety-four breaks in my life. I’ve known only pain.
The Beast: Rejoice. You have suffered and are now pure.
Elijah Price: I assume you were sent here to be an avenging angel. How much do you want to avenge us?
[The Beast yells loudly]
Elijah Price: Well, that sounds like the bad guys teaming up.
Elijah Price: How you doing, David? I always thought of us as friends.
David Dunn: Elijah?
Elijah Price: You shouldn’t be hiding in the shadows, David. You’re able to hide because people who steal cars and mug people in alleys don’t need your full potential. You’re only using one percent of your abilities with these petty criminals.
David Dunn: Maybe there’s nothing to hide, Elijah.
Elijah Price: I have found someone who will require your full potential to come out. A superhuman serial killer.
David Dunn: Don’t do this. How can we be the only ones? Maybe we believed something that isn’t even true.
Elijah Price: We are going to the tallest building in the city. The Horde is going to be revealed there. There are three floors that house a chemical company in that building. I am going to blow up that building using their chemicals, David. You might want to try and stop us. Today is your coming out party. At least you know what to wear.
Elijah Price: This is where they would paint you with big eyes and bubbles of confusion above your head.
The Beast: [appears behind Pierce] You hurt him?
Pierce: What are you doing?
The Beast: You should kneel before him. He is the broken.
Pierce: Step away from me. Get back in your room! Both of you!
[suddenly The Beast grabs hold of Pierce and starts to crush him]
Elijah Price: [as The Beast is killing Pierce] You’re fighting for the broken. You found your purpose.
Dr. Ellie Staple: Listen to me, Joseph. Your father is making great progress. I’m very hopeful for him.
Casey Cooke: Did you know the first Superman couldn’t even fly? And Metropolis is actually New York City. And what about all the coincidences in what I was reading?
Dr. Ellie Staple: Comic books are an obsession. Have you ever been to a comic book convention? They sell teen TV shows there. They are selling things. Your friends and family members have lost their perspective.
Dr. Ellie Staple: [to Joseph] Your dad is trying to fight her abductor.
Dr. Ellie Staple: [to Mrs. Price] Your son is trying to best his dad. He’s the anarchist. He’s the brains. He’s the reluctant hero. This all sounds very familiar, doesn’t it? Comic books are not valid history.
Guard: Hey, what wing are you with?
Patricia: [quietly to Elijah] The Beast is saying that he’d like you to roll forward when they come. I believe. I believe. I believe. I believe.
[he transforms into The Beast and starts beating up the guards as Elijah wheels himself away]
Elijah Price: [to The Beast] The water used for David’s room. There’s water in that tank. I know he almost drowned when he was a child. Water is his weakness.
Joseph Dunn: Hey! Hey!
David Dunn: Joseph!
Joseph Dunn: He’s lying to you. In comics, the parents of the villains always hold a key to understanding them. He’s not telling you something.
David Dunn: Joseph, get back!
Elijah Price: Don’t tell him yet.
Joseph Dunn: Kevin’s dad didn’t just take any train and not come home.
Joseph Dunn: [to The Beast, referring to Elijah] He took the train my dad was on. The one that everyone died except my dad. That’s the key to who you are. Mr. Glass killed Kevin’s dad.
Elijah Price: It’s all evidence, you see? If that train crash hadn’t happened, Kevin wouldn’t have been left alone with his mother. If Kevin’s mother wasn’t allowed to continue to abuse him, then The Beast wouldn’t have had to be born. What are the odds that David Dunn and Clarence Wendell Crumb would be together that day? Amazing. I created you, as I created David. It just took longer. Nineteen years. They almost convinced me I was crazy. I create superheroes. I truly am a mastermind.
The Beast: I thank you for what you did. But I came to protect Kevin. And I cannot trust you to keep him safe.
[he grabs Elijah’s shoulder and squeezes it, making Elijah scream as his bones crack]
David Dunn: [as The Beast is trying to kill Elijah] Hey. We still haven’t settled that kneeling thing.
Elijah Price: [laughs] The classic turn. The enemy becomes the ally, because of the hero’s unflinching sense of good.
Mrs. Price: [as Elijah is dying] Didn’t you tell me there was a showdown at the end of a limited edition? How come you didn’t know how it was going to end?
Elijah Price: Oh, mama. This is not a limited edition. This was an origin story the whole time.
Kevin Wendell Crumb: [after being fatality shot, referring the Horde] They’re all so scared. But I told them that I’m going to hold the light now. You really my friend?
[Casey nods with tears in her eyes]
Kevin Wendell Crumb: Then I’m going to hold the light till the end. Till the very end. It’s not so bad being in the light.
Casey Cooke: [as Kevin takes his last breath and dies] Kevin.
Dr. Ellie Staple: [to a dying Elijah] They got it wrong in the comics. They talk about secret evil groups trying to stop the heroes. I don’t think we are particularly evil, and we don’t choose sides. We try to stop both of you. If there is one of you, the opposite of you appears. It escalates. We step in. There just can’t be gods amongst us. It’s not fair. It has worked just fine for ten thousand years our way. Take consolation in the fact that you were right about your theory. Be at peace.
Elijah Price: I wasn’t a mistake, mama.
Mrs. Price: No. You were spectacular.
[Elijah takes his last breath and dies]
Dr. Ellie Staple: All three were real. Quite special, actually. If you approve, I will move to the next city.
Woman: Will there be any repercussions?
Dr. Ellie Staple: No one saw them. I know what my charge is. Convince them. This is the most humane and effective method. We’re not executioners, and we don’t need martyrs. If that fails, use the machine. And I understand how important what we’re doing is. Maintaining balance. Keeping order.
Dr. Ellie Staple: He went through the basement tunnels to be seen by as many cameras as possible. That’s why he didn’t go out the side entrance. He was never planning on going to that building. This was a suicide mission. I gave him all the cameras he needed right here. What have you done, Elijah?
Elijah Price: There are unknown forces that don’t want us to realize what we are truly capable of. They don’t want us to know the things we suspect are extraordinary about ourselves are real. I believe that if everyone sees what just a few people become when they wholly embrace their gifts, others will awaken. Belief in oneself is contagious. We give each other permission to be superheroes. We will never awaken otherwise. Whoever these people are who don’t want us to know the truth, today, they lose.
Mrs. Price: [to Joseph and Casey as Elijah’s footage is released] I know what this is. This is the moment we are let in on the universe.
Trailer: