Warning: This article contains spoilers for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
In 2019, Rian Johnson’s mystery/comedy Knives Outquickly became one of the most talked-about and favored films of the year. Its original and suspenseful concept combined with the star-studded cast, including Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Christopher Plummer, and Katherine Langford, quickly put this movie on everyone’s radar. After what a huge success the first film, there was already an almost-immediate demand for a sequel. In September 2022, the long-awaited Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mysterywas finally released, making its premiere at TIFF. This tale, similarly to the first, follows a group of individuals who find themselves at the home of a wealthy man, when, suddenly, a murder takes place. We go on the journey with Detective Benoit Blanc to try and figure out who the killer really is.
Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Madelyn Cline, Jessica Henwick, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Morgan, Dave Bautista, and Leslie Odom Jr. starred in the film. In December 2022, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery was released on Netflix and is currently available to stream now. With a 93% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and multiple Golden Globe nominations, this film is doing just as well as the first. Here are all the movie’s most exciting, surprising, and hilarious moments.
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10 Helen Breaking Her Box
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At the beginning of Glass Onion, we see each of Miles’ friends receiving their invitation to their exclusive getaway on his private island. You can hear the excitement in their voices when the invitation comes in the form of a box, with different puzzles they must solve in order to read the letter itself. They all go along with his game, attempting to meticulously solve the challenges the box presents. Helen, on the other hand, who is the only person opening the box that isn’t falling all over Miles’ brilliance, decides to smash her box into pieces until nothing is laying on her table except the note. This gives us a very direct insight into how different Helen’s perspective is compared to the rest of the group. Her destruction of the box foreshadows the destruction she will later cause throughout the film.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
9 Helen Arrives at the Glass Onion
When Helen arrives to the dock, it is clear on all the guests’ faces that she was not expected to be joining. They are all shocked by her arrival and don’t understand why she would come. This moment in Glass Onion is important because it draws us into the mystery that is Helen, or Andi (as we’re initially introduced to her as). The tension in the air, accompanied by the witty script, brings an underlying comedic relief to what otherwise would have been a harsh scene. The costume in this scene is breathtaking. Not only does Helen stick out from the rest because of her personality, but her aura feels much more sophisticated than the rest, a lot of which has to do with how the costuming represents her.
8 Whiskey Isn’t Who She Seems
When Whiskey is around her boyfriend Duke Cody, the internet-famous social media gamer and streamer, she seems like nothing but a dumb blonde. She does what Duke wants and acts like his arm candy. During a scene where Whiskey is walking with Helen, she breaks away from this act and starts to show her true self. She is a genuinely intelligent and caring person with big dreams for herself. She expresses that she is here because she knows Miles can help her accomplish her goals, and she is willing to play the game if, in the end, she creates her dream life for herself. Madelyn Cline gives one of the best performances of her career in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
7 Detective Benoit Blanc Didn’t Recieve a Box
Daniel Craig, who was in the original Knives Out, plays Detective Benoit Blanc, one of the most successful detectives in the world. When he is invited to the island to help solve the game of Miles’ murder mystery weekend, he is thrilled and excited to take on this new adventure. Upon arrival at the Glass Onion, Miles knows who Blanc is, but is confused about why he is there. Blanc then realizes that he was never actually invited to the Glass Onion and someone must have sent him their box after opening it themselves.
6 Murder Mystery Game Solved
The first portion of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery surrounds the murder mystery game that Miles put in place. He gathered all of his closest friends together to play a real-life version of the game Clue and figure out, over the course of the weekend, who “murdered” him. Miles brags about how difficult the game is, saying he brought in scriptwriters, set designers, and real-life detectives to help create the puzzle. As soon as it starts, though, Blanc is able to solve the mystery before it even takes place, unveiling the entire plot and ruining Miles’ entertainment for the weekend.
5 Duke Cody’s Death
One of the most shocking moments in Glass Onion is when one of Miles’ closest friends, Duke Cody, dies of poisoning. Someone slips something in his drink, and we watch as he suffocates and falls to the floor, extremely dramatically. All the other guests are in shock and don’t know what to make of what just happened. It becomes clear that one of the people in this house killed Cody, but nobody knows who did it or why. The direction of the film makes a dramatic turn here, and the murder mystery is no longer just a game it is real life. Dave Bautista plays the role of Duke Cody, and his ability to transform the character from a shallow streamer to a person audiences really felt for was incredible.
4 Andi is Really Helen
This scene has to be one of the most important moments in the movie. At the halfway mark in Glass Onion, we flash back to a meeting between Blanc and Helen that took place before they arrived in Greece. Helen tells Blanc that her sister Andi has been murdered, and she believes that either her ex-partner Miles or one of his friends did it. Blanc tells Helen he will come on the trip to the Glass Onion to try and figure out who killed her sister if Helen pretends to be Andi since no one knows yet that she’s dead. This scene reveals that, so far, everyone on the trip has believed Helen is really Andi.
3 Helen’s “Death”
Shortly after Duke’s death, and everyone is panicking, the lights go out in the Glass Onion. As everyone lurks in the dark, cautious since a killer is among them, another guest is struck down. Blanc watches as Helen is mysteriously shot by someone. She falls to the floor in front of the Glass Onion and lies there for a while until she finally gets up revealing that Andi’s journals in her jacket pocket stopped the bullet from hitting her. All the other guests see her lying on the floor, though, and believe that she is really dead. This gives Helen time to snoop around in their rooms and look for clues to find out who killed her sister.
2 Miles is the Killer
At the end of Glass Onion, after all the guests are over the weekend and want nothing more than to go home, it is unveiled that Miles, played by Edward Norton, is in fact the killer. Not only did he go to Andi’s house, poison her, and stage her alleged suicide, but he also slipped something in Duke’s drink earlier that night, ultimately killing him. Miles was also responsible for turning out the lights in the Glass Onion and shooting Helen, attempting to kill her. Despite the fact that all the guests know Miles is the killer, there is no hard proof and no one can convict him of his crimes.
1 Burning of the Mona Lisa
The best scene in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is the destruction of the Mona Lisa. Miles is obsessed with the Mona Lisa, and it is his lifelong dream to do something as lasting and famous as this painting. Miles has the painting at his house for the weekend and keeps it on display to remind himself and everyone else that he is just as important as her. At the end of the film, Helen burns the Mona Lisa and the rest of the Glass Onion with the intention that, if she can’t convict Miles of killing her sister, at least he will be charged with destroying the most famous painting in the world. She took his dream of being forever remembered in the same breath as the Mona Lisa and granted it to him, but he will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
