The eagerly anticipated sequel to Knives Out has arrived, and it may have even more twists and turns than its predecessor. Benoit Blanc, the detective who was at the center of 2019’s first installment, is back to reprise his role, but he’s the only returning member of the cast.
This time, he’s tasked with solving the mystery of a murder on a private island filled with self-styled “disruptors” who wield their powers in totally distinct ways. If you want to know “whodunit” — and why — keep reading.
Warning: Spoilers for Glass Onion below.
Glass Onion is structured around a series of reveals, the first being that Dave Bautista’s Duke Cody has been poisoned in what seems to be an accident. The drink that was poisoned initially appears to be that of Miles Bron (Edward Norton), the tech billionaire who invited them all to the island. Bron is the powerhouse at the center of this group of friends, and the one responsible for everyone else’s success.
What both we and Blanc discover, though, is that Bron’s success was built on the back of Cassandra “Andi” Brand, who did most of the work to build their tech company and was then forced out by Bron. Bron convinced the rest of his friend group to side with him in a dispute over a bar napkin that contained detailed plans for the company. Andi was the napkin’s actual author, but Bron claimed that he was the one who created.
Blanc is solving a murder that happened before the movie began
If you’ve read this far, you may be wondering what Blanc is doing on the island to begin with. No murder has been committed when he arrives on the island, at least not that we’re aware of. He claims that someone invited him, but that’s not actually the case.
What really happened, we discover, is that the real Andi was murdered before the movie even began. The person who has been impersonating her on the island is actually Andi’s twin sister, Helen, a humble schoolteacher who contacted Blanc after she discovered that her sister had died under suspicious circumstances. Blanc ultimately convinces her to travel to the island and impersonate her sister, as he deduces that most of Andi’s former friends aren’t yet aware that she has died.
Ultimately, we discover that Bron is the one behind Andi’s murder, and that he’s not nearly as smart as he seems to be. He intentionally murdered Duke because Duke had discovered that Andi was dead, and knew that Bron was behind it. The whole movie was just Bron covering his tracks, and Blanc figures that out.
In the end, Helen blows up the glass onion at the center of the island, leaving only ruin in the wake of Bron’s legacy. Glass Onion‘s satire focuses on a different class of ultrarich, specifically people who see themselves as one step ahead of everyone around them. With the help of a world-renowned detective, though, a schoolteacher is able to outsmart them all, and leave only a giant explosion in her wake.
You can now stream Glass Onion on Netflix.
