Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Movie Review

💡 This post may contain spoilers.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is a 2022 Netflix film that is perhaps the most refreshing movie to end the year 2022. Of its many fancies, perhaps the most intriguing is having Daniel Craig, previously playing James Bond, act in a comedy and be authentically hilarious. The movie is about a detective, Benoit Blanc, played by Daniel Craig, who goes to an island in Greece to tackle his latest mystery.

The Metaphor of a Glass Onion

A Glass Onion, as a metaphor, is very intriguing in the sense that as an onion, it has many layers on top of one another, however, it is also made of glass that is see-through. What this translates to is that despite having so many layers that need uncovering to get to the core, the onion, or issue at hand, is also clear to see as it is made of glass. What this means in the movie is that the culprit of the murder in question is apparent and the mystery isn't so much a mystery in that sense.

Miles the Billionaire

Miles, the billionaire owner of the Aqua Company invites a cabal of his closest friends to his Greek island for their yearly weekend away. The weekend is set to be one of unfolding a mystery about who kills him. Yes, Miles has set up a mystery where he is murdered and wants his friends to unfold it and find the murderer, his/her motive, and how they accomplished the murder. He, however, has two unexpected guests to his soiree.

Andi

Miles, played by Edward Norton, formed his billion-dollar company Aqua with his co-founder Andi Brand, played by Janelle Monáe. They, however, parted ways with Miles locking her out of the company and her share of it. Andi wasn't happy and despite a nasty lawsuit lost out and was left aggrieved. Sadly, their mutual friends also betrayed her in favor of Miles.

The 5 Sh*theads

Miles was introduced to the 5 sh*theads by Andi. They were first Andi's friends and she introduced them to this cheeky guy named Miles Bron. The sh*theads include Birdie, a 'washed up' model, Duke, a struggling YouTuber, Claire, a governor, and Lionel Toussaint, a scientist. They are Miles' inner circle and we later discover why they would even be willing to commit purgery for him. Kate Hudson plays Birdie, Dave Bautista plays Duke, Kathryn Hahn plays Claire, and Leslie Odom Jr. plays Lionel Toussaint.

The Island

Glass Onion as Miles names his Greek island is a marvel. It is a plush island set on the idyllic Greek coast. The house itself, which he names the Glass Onion, is crowned with a beautiful and humongous glass onion [literally] whose glazing shimmers in the coastal sun. The invited guests marvel at its beauty with Detective Benoit Blanc intrigued the most, by the mystery of it and the metaphor of the glass onion explained above.

Miles' Walkover Mystery

The weekend's planned mystery by Miles turns out to be a walkover mystery for Detective Benoit Blanc. Blanc quickly debunks it as the soiree is just starting out. Miles is visibly agitated but buys an idea from Blanc; who calls his inviting of his possible murderers for a weekend at his island crazy. Blanc says it is like "putting a gun on the table and turning off the lights".

The Duke is Down

Duke, played by Dave Bautista, wants something from Miles. He wants to be featured on Miles' media company Aqua News, even if in the late-night segment. He needs it as his YouTube channel is floundering. Miles, however, refuses Duke's plea, despite him sending his girlfriend Whiskey, played by Madelyn Cline, to oil the situation [much literally, unfortunately]. As the soiree is going on, Duke falls to the ground choking and in a matter of moments, is dead and the whole group is shocked.

Andi Down

Things get pretty hectic when the lights go off at 10; purportedly a planned part of the party. Andi is the alleged killer in Duke's undoing and the whole party is shaken, and everybody is running around in madness. As Blanc and Andi speak, she is shot and left bleeding on the ground. Everybody comes around as the lights come back on and they are all visibly shaken.

Is Andi Really Dead?

As it turns out, Andi is dead. Not the one shot at the party, no. That's Andi's sister Helen. The real Andi is dead and she was killed by Miles a few days ago. She had sent the group an email saying that she'd found it. By 'it' she was referring to the napkin where she scribbled the initial idea for Aqua. Yes, it was Andi's idea that Miles had stolen. In court, Miles had presented a fake napkin and his 5 friends had betrayed Andi and said that it was the real napkin, whose idea Aqua was formed upon.

The Real Mystery: The Inner Core of the Glass Onion

Who Killed Duke in the Glass Onion?

Things turn around as Detective Benoit Blanc now unravels the real mystery or the inner core of the glass onion. First, it was Miles who killed Duke. He handed Duke his glass which he had put pineapple juice. Duke was allergic to pineapple and even a drop could be troublesome. Miles put quite some pineapple juice and that immediately took out Duke. Miles had also taken Duke's gun and used it to shoot Helen.

Why was Duke Killed?

Duke was killed because he showed Miles a notification about Andi's murder. The story was finally out in the press and since Duke was the only one with a phone at the moment, got it first. Duke went on to quickly blackmail Miles for the Aqua News opportunity and Miles visibly accepted. He, however, didn't and killed Duke for it.

Is the Fake Andi - Helen - Dead?

No. Fake Andi or her twin sister Helen wasn't dead all this time. She had been shot at yes, but the bullet luckily hit Andi's hardcover journal that was in her jacket. Helen had, therefore, survived but together with Blanc pretended she had in fact been killed; even going as far as to apply hot sauce on her jacket and shirt to make it look like it had been bloodied. Helen reappears inside the room and everyone is shocked. Birdie, for instance, screams out "what is reality!".

The Elusive Glass Onion Napkin

While everyone thought she was dead, Helen had gone up to the glass onion to look for the red envelope that contained her sister Andi's scribbling of the initial idea behind Aqua. It was the envelope Andi had shown in the email she sent to the group.

Helen had been looking in everyone's rooms earlier and had not found it. As they faked her death after she is shot, Blanc gives her the idea to look inside the glass onion. At this point, they thought her sister's murderer must have had it and they probably had handed it to Miles since she couldn't find it in everyone else's room. After looking in the Glass Onion, she finally finds it and reveals the red envelope and napkin to the group.

A Sly Miles Bron

Bron, however, is sly and goes on to incinerate the napkin with his lighter. And just like that, the critical piece of evidence that had Andi killed is gone. The napkin had a special logo belonging to 'The Glass Onion', a bar where the group met Miles and where Andi scribbled down the Aqua idea. Miles had now burnt it and the sh*theads, on being confronted by Helen, seemed likely to refute what they had seen and possibly lie again for Miles, even in court. The 5 of them were being supported financially by Miles and that's why they were willing to lie for him and look the other way.

The Mona Lisa

Helen starts dropping vases and the group catches on. They smash almost everything in that beautiful room. The room also contains the original Mona Lisa, as Miles had purportedly acquired it from the French Louvre Museum; after they were hit hard financially by the pandemic. The painting has an automatic security glass that pops over it automatically; triggered by just a slight move or a flame in the room. Miles, however, boasted to the group how he had put in a backdoor to the security system and placed a hack/loophole that would retract the glass casing. The trigger for this loophole was a statuette in the room.

Klear

The reason why Miles and Andi went their separate ways was Miles' intent and insatiable desire to get a hydrogen fuel he named 'Klear' to the market. The substance was, however, very unstable and Andi couldn't let him do it. That is why she was cut out of the company and her share of it taken from her. Fast forward to the island and Miles tells the guests that it is the source of power in the mansion. Helen remembers this and on lighting a small fire as part of her 'breaking vases' tirade, she throws a piece of Klear into the flames, bringing the entire mansion to catch fire.

Goodbye Mona Lisa

Helen is now already incinerating the room after she and the sh*theads break all the vases and beautiful art installations, but she does one better. By this time Miles, despite pretending not to be agitated, is fired up and angry. Helen goes for the Mona Lisa's 'casing-retracting' statuette. Miles by this time is running toward her trying to stop her. Helen is fast and gets to the statuette in time. The encasing retracts and the Mona Lisa goes up in flames.

Miles Get His Wish

Miles' wish since he met the team was to be "mentioned in the same breath as the Mona Lisa". Helen enlightens him that he now got what we wanted and that his wish came true; seeing that now his upcoming invention Klear, had incinerated the world's most famous painting, the Mona Lisa.

Our Rating

We thoroughly enjoyed watching Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. The movie was a breath of fresh air and was a fabulous capping of the year that was 2022 in the movie scene. We rate the movie 9.5/10, for its impeccable humor, beautiful cinematography, and the thrill of watching Daniel Craig play a hilarious detective with a Southern/British accent. What a Movie! Netflix keeps on giving us classics and this one, I think, we must applaud them for. Tudum!