‘Glass’ Looks Like ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ With Superpowers

Drew Dietsch
Movies
Movies

Glass is going to be something special. Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan is returning to the characters he created in Unbreakable and Split and delivers what looks like a superhero thriller unlike anything we’ve ever seen. We got to see an exclusive first look at the trailer for Glass and the hype is real.

Check out our reaction and description below.

Hannibal Lecter Meets the X-Men

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First look at key art for 'Glass.'

The trailer starts out in a maximum security mental institution with Sarah Paulson’s psychiatrist character. She’s talking to the camera telling someone that she specializes in treating patients with disorders that make them believe they have abilities. The camera then smash cuts to show David Dunn, Kevin Wendell Crumb, and Elijah Price all sitting in chairs together. Apparently, they have all been arrested and put in the same facility, most likely at the request of Sarah Paulson’s character.

We got to see a refresher course on David’s abilities. It’s clear that he’s still acting out his role as the hero, helping to save people with his invulnerability, super strength, and psychic power to read a person’s sins. We get the same with Kevin and his multiple personalities. While we do see the same prominent personalities from Split like Patricia and Hedwig, we got a quick cut of a few other personalities we haven’t seen in depth yet.

And, of course, there’s Mr. Glass himself, Elijah Price. It’s clear from the trailer that he’s been imprisoned for a long time. His hair is long and ratty and he seems fairly amused with everything that’s going on. He’s still going on about how comic books are actually pieces of prophecy, and it looks like he’s going to get a good chance to prove that’s true.

Breaking Out

split box office feature hero the beast
A prison breakout film with superpowered heroes and villains? Sounds fun!

From the trailer, it looks like the majority of the film will take place in this institution. There is a scene with Kevin — possibly as the Beast, his superpowered and maniacal persona — and Elijah where they seem to be plotting an escape. “That sounds like the bad guys teaming up,” says Elijah. We also see a shot of Elijah’s mouth talking into a microphone and hear his voice coming out over a PA system. Looks like the inmates will be running the asylum.

But, if all this sounds too complicated because you haven’t seen the other two films, don’t worry. Sarah Paulson was on stage at CinemaCon and assured everyone that this is a movie that stands on its own. Considering the footage we saw of David beating up a bad guy and using his strength to bend a steel bar, it’s likely that a good chunk of the film’s first act will re-introduce these characters for any new audiences.

Above all, Glass looks like the kind of superhero/comic book story we’ve been wanting to see. Shyamalan himself said, “This is the first truly grounded superhero universe.” Glass doesn’t look like some big blockbuster effects extravaganza, but the small scale worked so well in its favor. There is a shot of the Beast in a hallway of the institution and it looks like he just got done killing a whole bunch of people. It’s simple but effective. That sounds friggin’ perfect.

Glass will hit theaters and we can’t wait to see it. It opens in theaters on January 18 in the US and UK.

Drew Dietsch
Drew Dietsch has been professionally writing about entertainment for over a decade. His bylines include FANDOM - where he was a founding contributor and Entertainment Editor - Bloody Disgusting, SYFY WIRE, and more. He created and hosts GenreVision, a weekly film discussion show at genrevision.com.