Glass Onion London film premiere 2023

1. One of the paintings in Miles Bron's living room is of Edward Norton's head on Brad Pitt's body from Fight Club (1999).
2. Rian Johnson has stated that he briefly considered a running joke of having Daniel Craig play Benoit Blanc with a different accent each film without any explanation at all, but decided against it.
3. When Netflix bought the rights for the film, a third movie also began development, again with Rian Johnson and Daniel Craig returning.
4. Final film of Stephen Sondheim and Dame Angela Lansbury, who appear briefly in a Zoom video call during Benoit's first scene. Rian Johnson is a fan of Sondheim's film The Last of Sheila (1973), another whodunit about a multi-millionaire who invites his friends to a party to play parlor games. Dyan Cannon's character in that film was an influence on Kate Hudson's character Birdie.
5. In an interview with The Atlantic, director Rian Johnson expressed his frustration over having to add "A Knives Out Mystery" to the film's title for marketing purposes, as he wanted every film to be self-contained, except for Daniel Craig's appearance. "Honestly, I'm pissed off that we have 'A Knives Out Mystery' in the title. You know? I want it to just be called 'Glass Onion.'" He adds, "I get it, and I want everyone who liked the first movie to know this is next in the series, but also, the whole appeal to me is it's a new novel off the shelf every time." However, the subtitle is only used in the film's marketing. In the film itself, the title cards say simply "Glass Onion".
6. Miles says that his "puzzle guy" was mentored by Ricky Jay. Jay was supposed to be in Knives Out (2019), but died before he could film his scenes. He was replaced by M. Emmet Walsh, however a photo of Jay is seen briefly, stuck to a fridge.
7. Daniel Craig worked with a dialect coach to regain familiarity with Benoit Blanc's southern accent.
8. Dame Angela Lansbury did not know how to play Among Us (2018). Rian Johnson said "She was very patient in letting me describe the rules of Among Us, up to a point. At which point she just said, 'You know what? Just tell me what the lines are. I'll trust you.'"
9. For Benoit Blanc's vintage-inspired swim suit, costume designer Jenny Eagan borrowed the notes of an Old Hollywood tailor. Blanc's pants were created using a custom sewing pattern originally drafted for Frank Sinatra.
10. Edward Norton's look in the flashback scene at the Glass Onion bar when Andi introduces Miles to the group is based on Tom Cruise's look in Magnolia (1999).
11. Despite playing his mother, Jackie Hoffman is only eight years older than Dave Bautista.
12. The title Glass Onion refers to The Beatles' song from The White Album. The song is enigmatic, teasing various myths about the band by the band (specifically John Lennon, who wrote it), thus fitting as a mystery film's title. Knives Out (2019) was also titled after a song, specifically the song by Radiohead from their album Amnesiac.
13. Having Dame Angela Lansbury and Stephen Sondheim appear in the same video call with Benoit Blanc is not a coincidence. Lansbury and Sondheim had been good friends for decades before this scene was filmed, and Lansbury created the role of Mrs. Lovett in the original Broadway production of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1982). It was Sondheim who got Lansbury to cameo in this film, telling Rian Johnson, "Oh, Angie - I'm friends with her. Tell her I'm doing it. She'll do it."
14. Blanc plays Among Us early in the film with some celebrity friends. Pausing the film reveals that Angela Lansbury's username is "MSheSolved" while Stephen Sondheim's username is "FleetSt."
15. One of the books on Blanc's bathroom floor is "CAIN'S JAWBONE". A murder mystery first published in 1930, all the pages are printed out of order. It's only been solved three times.
16. Just before his guests arrive, Miles plays The Beatles' "Blackbird" on a guitar. This song comes from their 1968 "White Album", as does the song "Glass Onion".
17. Although three of the main stars (Craig, Bautista, Hudson) wanted to stay at the Amanzoe hotel during the filming, the studio refused because the cost was prohibitive (rooms run upwards of $2000/night). They were told they could pay for themselves but all declined.
18. Miles Bron was widely interpreted to be based on Elon Musk, since the film was released just after Musk's controversial purchase and management of Twitter. Rian Johnson wrote the script and shot the film long before Musk bought Twitter, and though he recognized the similarities, he denied Miles was based on any specific person.
19. On October 6, 2022, Netflix announced that it had struck a deal with AMC, Regal, and Cinemark to release this film in theaters for one week starting on November 23 in about 600 theaters in the United States and overseas, making this the first Netflix film to be screened by all three theater chains.
20. During a December 2022 New York Times Interview, Dave Itzkoff asked Natasha Lyonne how she felt about being part of a scene that also included theater legends Stephen Sondheim and Angela Lansbury shortly before they each died. Lyonne, in a display of her offbeat sense of humor, quipped, "Honey, I know what you're getting at and it wasn't me. I have alibis for both." Then she answered the question seriously: "It goes without saying that they were giant losses of two incredible lives well lived. I guess we'll only know if I make it to 90, if I was actually worthy of being up there with them."
21. Kate Hudson's character owns a brand of designer sweatpants. In real life, Hudson owns Fabletics, a successful high-end athleisure brand.
22. When Helen checks the phone for text messages (1:41), all the message senders are actually members of the film's editorial/production staff.
23. Noah Segan plays Derol in this movie. He previously played Trooper Wagner in Knives Out (2019). He is a regular in Rian Johnson's movies.
24. One of the pieces on display is a glass (or crystal) version of the falcon statuette from The Maltese Falcon (1941).
25. Somewhat unusually for films of fiction made during the surge of COVID-19, characters are actually seen wearing face masks at times in this movie. It's revealed at the beginning that the film is set in May 2020, at the height of the pandemic.
26. The pier where the characters meet is in the island of Spetses, Greece. Behind them, is the Poseidonion hotel, a famous hotel recently renovated. When the camera is towards the mainland, one can see the ferry boat that brings vehicles four times per day between Kosta on the mainland and Spetses.
27. The loud hourly "Dong" that marks the passage of time on the island is a reference to the Agatha Christie adaptation Evil Under the Sun (1982), which takes place at an island resort where a cannon is fired every day at noon.
28. Both Dame Angela Lansbury and Stephen Sondheim were referenced in this film's predecessor, Knives Out (2019). A Spanish-dubbed version of Lansbury's series Murder, She Wrote (1984) appears on television and Blanc himself is heard singing "Losing My Mind" from Sondheim's musical 'Follies.'
29. One of the first major American movies released to acknowledge the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown of 2020 within its story.
30. Stephen Sondheim appearing As Himself is a tribute to the murder mystery parties he hosted, which inspired the entire Knives Out series. (See also the Sondheim-written The Last of Sheila, which is an influence on this film in particular.) It follows up on a scene from the previous film, where Blanc was jamming to a song from the Sondheim-written Follies.
31. The yacht, true name Aquarius, is captained in the movie by its actual captain and is available for rent at USD $228,000/week.
32. Other artwork references that make up part of Miles' collection at his home include: Matisse - "Icarus, Plate VIII From the Illustrated Book "Jazz"' (1947) Picasso - "Still Life With Stone" (1924) Klimt - "Goldfish" (1902) Degas - "L'absinthe (1875-76) Hockney - "Nichols Canyon" (1980) Basquiat - "In This Case" (1983) Mondrian - "Composition No.II with Red and Blue (1929)Numerous art galleries and foundations, as well as the owners of the original pieces were involved and consulted with in the reclamation of Miles' collection.
33. The film takes its inspiration from The Last of Sheila (1973), also the tale of an eccentric host who invites six guests to a Mediterranean island to solve an elaborately planned mystery that turns deadly for real.
34. A painting hanging in a hallway shows pop icons who all used nicknames during their career that rhyme with each other: Iggy (Pop,) Biggie (Smalls), Twiggy, and Ziggy (Stardust.) Ziggy Stardust was David Bowie's alter ego.
35. In the scene where Miles is playing pool, there is a sign behind him with the word POOL. He is positioned blocking the 'L', so the remaining letters spell "POO" in neon lights next to his head. Keeping in line with Helen's description of his group as "shitheads", and implying he is the head "shithead".
36. An Andy Warhol-esque silkscreen series of nine portraits of Miles, similar to works Warhol made of Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor, was made for the film as part of Miles's art collection, but ultimately it did not make the final cut.
37. May double as a Chekhov's Gun. At the beginning of the film when everyone receives the puzzle boxes, Duke's mother calls out "It's the Fibonacci sequence". The red envelope turns out to be hidden behind a wall decoration in Miles' glass onion -- specifically, a Fibonacci spiral, a spiral drawn using the Fibonacci sequence for the arcs. In the puzzle box, it serves a purpose, since the sequence is a clue for the solution, but the painting in Miles' office not only clashes with the glass style of the rest of the décor, but has no real meaning, only being there to suggest some vaguely math-related aesthetic. Which is also another hint to the fact that Miles is an idiot just trying to pass himself off as more intelligent than he is with things he barely understands as props
38. Kaley Cuoco auditioned for the part that ultimately went to Kate Hudson.
39. It has been reported in the press that had this film been given a standard theatrical release like its predecessor, it would have ended up taking around $300 million worldwide, a healthy profit for the distributors. However Netflix only let this film have any kind of theatrical release in order to get publicity and generate word of mouth prior to its streaming debut. To sweeten the deal with the cinema chains, they agreed to let the cinemas keep 60% of the box office takings (it's usually around 40%). While Netflix has refused to lengthen the initial theatrical release window, they have said that the film may get another theatrical release window several weeks after the streaming debut (possibly in February 2023, as there are often slim pickings for a crowd-pleasing film at that time of year).
40. Miles' car was a 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder.
41. At a point in the film where the time becomes relevant, the camera zooms in tight to Daniel Craig wearing an Omega Seamaster. During Craig's tenure as Bond, he wore and advertised the Omega Seamaster.
42. Both this film and the proposed third film in the Knives Out series were pre-bought by Netflix.
43. The cast features one Oscar winner ( Stephen Sondheim) and five Oscar nominees ( Ethan Hawke, Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Leslie Odom Jr., and Dame Angela Lansbury).
44. In various scenes, Daniel Craig's character wears a soft hat with the back of the brim turned up. This is a reference to the character "Monsieur Hulot" famously played by Jacques Tati. Hulot is a good-natured but naive character who often clashes with and struggles to navigate a world of evolving technology.
45. The tunnel icon from Brick can be seen scribbled on Derol's surfboard when Helen bursts into his room.
46. Reunites Daniel Craig with Dave Bautista after Spectre (2015).
47. In his letter to his friends, Miles uses the word "normalcy." It's a word that's entered common language, except it was first used by Warren G. Harding in the 1920s and was a malapropism of "normality." A made-up word. Harding himself was known for his linguistic errors and was often described as having only been elected because he "looked presidential." Miles' use of the term is an early hint that he's an idiot who wants to sound smart.
48. The Frank T.J. Mackey outfit and haircut that Miles wears in one flashback scene was Edward Norton's idea; he had come up with it with the help of costume designer Jenny Eagan. Rian Johnson, who wasn't involved, approved of the look when Norton came to set wearing it one day.
49. Touissant wears a lapel pin shaped like an intact wishbone. In addition to the association with wishes, wishbones represent good luck, looking forward to the future, and untapped potential. Touissant, though a brilliant and perceptive scientist who considers both present and long-term outcomes, is forced to spend a significant amount of time and mental energy mediating between Bron, Bron's ridiculous ideas, and other scientists and investors, taking the brunt of the pressure and criticism from all sides rather than getting to do very much scientific or technological innovating of his own.
50. Natasha Lyonne had partnered with director Rian Johnson on Poker Face (2023), a mystery comedy series in production when the film was released.
51. The title was officially announced on June 13, 2022 as "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery".
52. Jackie Hoffman has a small role as Duke's mother who acts very similar to Uma Heller, Hoffman's character from another comedic murder mystery Only Murders in the Building (2021).
53. Reunites Kate Hudson with Kathryn Hahn after How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003).
54. In Knives Out (2019) Trooper Wagner Noah Segan speaks enthusiastically of the stage version of Hamilton (2020). Leslie Odom Jr. (Lionel Touissant) played Aaron Burr in both the stage and the movie versions.
55. The art piece in Miles Bron's office with geometrical shapes is by Anthony James, a British/American artist living in Los Angeles.
56. Two other Bron idea faxes seen on a closeup of the box in Lionel's office: "Nootropic Nasal Spray" and "Nano-Bot Collagen Activator Injections - Wear at Night"
57. Derol's room features tour posters from Phish, Rush's Moon Walking Tour, Pink Floyd, and Steely Dan's Two Against Nature tour. Donald Fagen features Birdie Jay's drink, the Cuban Breeze, in one of his songs.
58. In the scene where Benoit Blanc is playing Among Us in the bathtub, the rubber duck seen is a Munchkin brand hot/cold water temperature testing duck.
59. An emerging staple of the "Knives Out" franchise is Benoit Blanc teaming with a plucky young woman to solve the crime.
60. In Knives Out, Daniel Craig starred alongside Ana De Armas who also starred as a Bond Girl. In this film, Daniel Craig stars alongside Dave Bautista who also starred as a Bond Villain.
61. While Glass Onion is Leslie Odom Jr. and Kathryn Hahn's first live-action project together, they also work together in the animated series Central Park (2020), where they play married couple Owen and Paige.
62. Daniel Craig and Jessica Henwick had cameos in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015). Noah Segan had a cameo in Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017), which was directed by Rian Johnson. In addition, Duke has the Sith Empire logo tattooed on his finger.
63. Benoit Blanc's apartment is 891. This may be a nod to Orson Welles who founded, with John Houseman, the WPA Federal Theatre Project 891 that produced, among other plays, THE VOODOO MACBETH, DR. FAUSTUS, and their final 891 project, THE CRADLE WILL ROCK, which drove them out of the WPA to form the Mercury Theatre.
64. Andi discovers her napkin on inside of the book The Innovators Dilemma. This is a book about technology and innovation disrupting business written by the Harvard Professor who created the theory of disruptive innovation and has done the definitive (and not predefinite) research on the subject.
65. Reunites Leslie Odom Jr. and Kate Hudson after Music (2021)
66. Fifty-four minutes into the movie, the song 'Take Me Home, Country Roads' can be heard playing as performed by Toots and the Mytals - this is likely an Easter egg referring to one of Daniel Craig's previous movies Logan Lucky (2017), where the song played a big part in the movie and in particular its finale.
67. Rian Johnson: [Frequent Collaborator] Joseph Gordon-Levitt voices Miles's clock, the Hourly Dong. He has had a role in all of Rian Johnson's films.
68. Ethan Hawke's cameo wasn't planned in advance, but Hawke happened to be nearby in Budapest shooting Moon Knight (2022) and came to Greece for a day to shoot his scene.
69. Rothko's painting "Number 207" is on display in Miles Bron's living room. However, the painting is intentionally displayed upside down to illustrate the character's superficial appreciation for art. The painting's actual full name, "Number 207 (Red over Dark Blue on Dark Gray)," even provides instructions for its proper hanging orientation right in its name, something that, the movie suggests, Bron was too dumb to notice.
70. While solving the riddles of the box, a party guest (classical musician Yo-Yo Ma in a cameo role) identifies the wooden boxes' melody and explains the concept of a fugue, in which a musical theme is repeated to form an intricate new melody. Later in the film, much of the story is once again repeated - to form a more intricate, revealing version of the events.
71. It is a very common misconception in movies and TV that the Mona Lisa was painted on canvas. The Mona Lisa was actually painted on wood. When the painting burns, it looks like it is painted on wood, with the paint flaking off and the glowing wood structure showing behind it.
72. When Benoit and Helen are talking in the gym in front of the screen with Serena Williams, she is reading Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. This book was previously mentioned by Blanc in Knives Out (2019), stating he's "never read it but likes the title."
73. Rian Johnson previously stated in an interview that Apple has a rule that villains in movies cannot use an iPhone (or any other Apple products). In Knives Out (2019), one character is seen using an Android while everyone else has iPhones, slightly spoiling who the villain is. Not only are all of the phones used in this film not iPhones, Miles doesn't own a phone period, preserving the mystery. Only two characters are shown with Apple products: Duke is introduced livestreaming from an Apple branded screen, an early hint that he is not the killer. And Blanc - first in the bath, and later on catching the iPad. Note Miles flings it at him from off screen and is never seen in contact with it.
74. When warning Helen that he may not be able to solve the crime, Benoit warns, "I'm not Batman." A moment later, when he begins to formulate his plan, the score plays a phrase from Danny Elfman's Batman theme. This joke is lost in the dubbed version for Latin America where Batman is changed to James Bond, except in the Brazilian version where the joke remains the same with Benoit claiming that he is not Batman.
75. During the puzzle box scene, Duke's mother recognizes nearly every riddle and casually reveals their answers ("It's a stereogram!") ; she even figures out how to open the box itself before anyone else. This foreshadows both how Miles' supposed "genius" is mostly nonsense that is easy to see through, and hints at the difficulties Blanc and Helen have at solving Andi's murder: they're looking for a highly-complicated motive and opportunity planned by a brilliant mind, but the true answer is obvious and would probably easily be guessed by someone outside of Miles' inner circle. In the same scene, the chess puzzle that the Disruptors have to solve is a Fool's Mate, the fastest possible ending to a match and so named because it's practically impossible to win this way unless the losing player is ignorant or inattentive enough to set themselves up for it. Foreshadowing the climactic reveal.
76. The song "Glass Onion" that inspired the title and plays at the end is also in keeping with the running theme of the movie. John Lennon wrote "Glass Onion" to baffle the sort of fans who went to great lengths to spot nonexistent secret layers within the Beatles' music, a trend he found annoying. He incorporated random lyrics from some of the band's other well-known songs to give it the outer appearance of harboring deep hidden meaning, while it is nonsense meaning nothing. The song is itself a glass onion.
77. Just like the first movie, the actor with the second billing ends up being the murderer, and the person with the "and" billing ends up being the murder victim.
78. In bit of foreshadowing, the book Andi is seen with in the bar when she comes up with her idea, and later finds the napkin in, is "The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail". It is widely regarded as one of the best business books ever written, and in part notes, as does the movie, how larger, established entities can inevitably be taken down by unexpected, newer and smaller entities, or "disruptive" elements.
79. In the flashback where Andi tells Miles about the dangers of Klear, Miles wears jeans and a black turtleneck, an outfit frequently sported by Steve Jobs. In that scene, Andi says "The reality distortion field ends here," and Apple software developer Bud Tribble used the term "reality distortion field" to describe Jobs' ability to get others to believe whatever he wanted them to. The term originated in Star Trek: The Menagerie: Part I (1966).
80. This film hints that Benoit Blanc is a gay man in the flashback scene where an aproned man -- Phillip, played in cameo by Hugh Grant -- opens Blanc's apartment door while Blanc is in the bathtub. Daniel Craig said this was deliberately alluded to in the script. In a "Collider" interview with Steve Weintraub, Hugh Grant was asked about the cameo, and his reply was to quip, "It is true, I'm married to James Bond."
81. The diary is a bit too thin to have been able to realistically stop a bullet, but the glass Helen was shot through is obviously a high-strength variant, given it only cracks rather than breaking apart. This likely helped reduce the bullet's speed enough for the diary to stop it.
82. Moments before receiving Miles's invitation, Blanc says outright "I don't need puzzles or games, the last thing I need is a vacation". Of course, a box with children's puzzles and an invitation to a phony murder game on a private island would not interest Blanc, hinting that whatever came to his door that day was actually a real mystery to solve.
83. During their pre-island meeting, Helen (as Andi), correctly guesses who the killer is, offering an early indicator that her uncomplicated, direct reasoning was the right approach to solving the mystery. However, she is persuaded to abandon the idea by the more experienced Blanc. He unwittingly sways them both into assuming a person renowned for intelligence is too smart to be that stupid.
84. Benoit later describes himself as being "very bad at dumb things" when discussing the board game Clue (or Cluedo). The ultimately "simple" mystery is able to confound both Benoit and Helen, who were expecting a much more complicated murder mystery when investigating Andi's death.
85. Blanc's invitation to Miles' party has a bent corner. It was bent when Helen smashed the puzzle box to retrieve it.
86. Cassandra "Andi" Brand and her sister, Helen, share names with prominent women in the myth of the Trojan War. Not only is this appropriate for a story set in Greece, the names act as foreshadowing. Cassandra, a Trojan princess, was given the gift of prophecy by the god Apollo yet was also cursed by him so that she would never be believed, and thus her attempt to warn her countrymen against the Trojan Horse is ignored; likewise, Andi's co-ownership of Alpha Industries and her concerns about Klear are dismissed. Helen of Troy was said to have set off the Trojan War either by deserting her husband, King Menelaus of Sparta, for the Trojan prince, Paris, or by being kidnapped by him, ultimately causing the fall of Troy. However, relevant to the film's plot, the seeds of war were already planted long before then. Upon Menelaus winning her hand in marriage, all of her other suitors agreed to provide him with military aid should she be "stolen". Paris lit the match that was already there, setting off his own destruction. Helen's namesake takes a more active role in bringing down the financial empire of Miles Bron. Also note the family name, Brand, as in firebrand.
87. When Helen is writing in her notebook to prep for the investigation on the island, she writes Claire's name with an A that matches the logo for Alpha. It is very likely Andi and Helen wrote their A's the same way. It doesn't mean that this would have been used in the court case, but it does just show that the intellectual property were all Andi's - even down to the logo.
88. In Miles Bron's home are pictures and paintings of David Bowie. Towards the end of the movie, Miles says to a character, "Are you an alligator?!" This is likely a reference to Bowie's 1971 song "Moonage Daydream", in which the alligator lyric is thought to signify strength and remorselessness.
89. The "glass onion" motif counterpoints the first movie's discussion of a "donut within a donut hole"--in the latter, Blanc identifies a crime hidden within a seemingly solved crime, whereas in the former he states that Miles' scheme, while seemingly complex, is exactly as crudely simple as it looks.
90. (At 33 mins) In Miles' great speech, he asks if anyone's willing to break the one thing no one - including their partner - wants them to break, which turns out to be how it ends for him. Helen does this when she trashes his art, moving onto bigger and bigger things before burning the whole house and the Mona Lisa. She's now a disruptor, because, as he puts it, she's broken the system itself. He even said no one would be on the same side but, ironically, her actions turn everyone against him rather than her. It's also shown that contrary to what Miles said about partners, Blanc did not stop or abandon her. He offered a suggestion on how to proceed and actually supported her by withdrawing - giving her the freedom to act at will and himself plausible deniability. He is then shown still there for her at the end.
91. In the climatic glass smashing scene, the look of shock on Jessica Henwick's face is genuine: She mistook director Rian Johnson's explanation of the countdown to be the real one and smashed the glass on the floor prematurely - the cameras were already rolling and caught it, along with her horrified face, by accident. In an interview with EW, Johnson called it "one of my favorite moments", and decided to use it in the film, while Henwick commented "I still have nightmares about that moment."
92. Benoit is seen playing Among Us online with friends, but is quickly outed as the Imposter, due to his confusion of how the game works. As Hidden in Plain Sight explains below, Blanc joins the party himself helping an imposter in Helen, and does a much better job at keeping it secret.
93. In the flashback sequence, Philip (Hugh Grant) answers the door holding what appears to be a jar of sourdough starter. Baking sourdough bread became a huge trend during the heart of the initial COVID-19 lockdown.
94. When Blanc is questioning Miles on how he could have received a box when there were only enough made for the Disruptors, the question of a prototype is brought up. Miles dismisses it, explains he didn't make the boxes himself, and later that he didn't write his murder mystery. Further building the case that his real "talent" is mainly in using his vast wealth to have true innovators make his half-baked ideas work, or a least look, like genius.
95. Lionel inadvertently provides the killer with the idea to destroy the evidence that would prove him guilty ("You didn't burn it or anything?"). It plainly hadn't occurred to Miles that he didn't have to keep it. Also, that he shouldn't. Further emphasizing Blanc's assessment of him.
96. Although Miles implants the false memory of the glass switch, with a flashback demonstrating his version of events, the real switch is visible in real time. As are the moments he steals Duke's gun (his hands are hidden, but what he's doing with them isn't), and then hides it (the gun is visible in his right hand just above the bar, followed by a clear sound effect of it dropping into the ice bucket). This is contrary to most movie and TV mysteries, which typically withhold such details until the summation, only then fully divulging through flashbacks how a clever killer tricked everyone. Glass Onion just goes ahead and shows the killer at it - managing to fool character and audience expectations with their expectations.
97. When the ultraconservative political pundit Ben Shapiro tweeted his negative opinion of Glass Onion, he was widely mocked for what seemed to be a basic lack of understanding about the entire genre of mystery stories. Shapiro complained that "the movie is a complete misdirect" and "we're actively deceived by the writer." However, the concept of the "misdirect" has been mainstay of murder mysteries and detective stories for at least a century. Many publications roasted Shapiro for his take on the plot, and some pointed out that as an aspiring screenwriter himself Shapiro should be familiar with the basics of story construction. In Forbes magazine, Dani Di Placido wrote, "It's fine to dislike Johnson's film, obviously, but criticizing a murder mystery for daring to mislead the audience isn't exactly insightful criticism, especially a simple film like Glass Onion, which doesn't attempt to outsmart the viewer; it's just a fun, silly whodunit"; she also noted that Shapiro's "takes on pop culture" have long been "famously ill-informed." Princeton University history professor Kevin M. Kruse tweeted, "Ben Shapiro wrote a long angry thread about a murder mystery that had the utter nerve to include some misdirection that threw viewers off the real culprit and now I'm worried someone is going to tell him about Agatha Christie."
98. When Benoit Blanc is sitting in his bathtub with his laptop, the wide shot of the room reveals the same composition as Jacques Louis-David's 1793 painting "The Death of Marat." In this painting, Jean-Paul Marat, a French revolutionary and genius, is shown murdered in his bathtub, his arm draped over the side of the tub. He holds a note from his murderer, a woman who tricked him by asking for help uncovering a conspiracy. This reference is an intentional misdirection; it suggests that Blanc may be a target or a victim of the person who gives him the invitation (later revealed to be Helen, who is entirely innocent).
99. (At 1hr 41 mins.) While Helen is ransacking the rooms, she dumps out a bag, and there is clearly a sheet of LSD with a few squares missing. Chronologically, after that search, Birdie has exaggerated reactions (as if she were on something), and changed into her trippy-hippie dress that seems to be color shifting (something someone on LSD may enjoy). She even screams out "What is reality!?" (around the 1hr 52m mark)
100. Several key moments and character insights, including who the killer is, really are shown in plain view, just as Blanc says at the end: In the first version of events, when Birdie is talking about her relationship with Miles, her bag is seen jerking slightly from when Helen threw in the recorder. A moment later, a bit of Helen's dress fabric briefly flutters into view as she takes up the pose that makes it seem as if she's been there all along. The envelope they are looking for is shown exactly where it is when a character is in the same place as it is, only nominally hidden, twice even in close up. Helen holding up a notebook, with a page literally spelling out who the killer is. Later holding it up with X's next to all the names except one, meaning one thing to her and Blanc, but also reading as an underline of the previous time she held up the notebook, where the X's can also mean 'not them'. Helen's straight-on approach to the puzzle box yielding the same result as solving it, only faster. Duke's mom being able to open it within minutes of its arrival. Birdie decoding absolutely nothing. The Captain straightforwardly describing the dock. A "secret" tryst occurring in a ground floor room, next to a floor to ceiling window, which faces onto a public pathway. Shaking poplar trees broadcasting exactly where someone is eavesdropping from. The killer steals the gun, hides the gun (with matching sound effect), poisons the drink, and switches the drink, all on screen and in real time. The killer has the stolen phone poking out of their too-small pocket, with the top visible and its outline pressing against the pocket's thin fabric. The Glass Onion itself, which is more accurately a dome or globe, because it has no layers, because it is hollow.
101. When Duke is trying to open the box, his mother correctly identifies one of the puzzles as a Fibonacci sequence. The same Fibonacci pattern is repeated in the photo frame where the napkin is hidden (with the central square showing the red envelope behind it)
102. Miles, tries to look like Tom Cruise's character in Magnolia. This further reveals that Miles is incapable of creating ideas for himself and tries really hard to put on appearances. Other cases are him trying to look like he can play guitar when people visit his island or of course that he hired people to create the murder mystery but took credit for part of the film.
103. As with Knives Out (2019), the eye-catching set suggests a major plot point: The glass chandelier above the dinner table features multiple red squares, hinting at the hiding of Andi's red envelope.
104. How the Disruptors wear their masks when they are meeting on the docks also helps establish their character: Lionel wears his professional-grade N95 mask the entire time, maintains a minimum six foot distance, and tries to avoid social contact, showing he is a serious scientist, as well as being reasonably considerate of his own and others' safety. Claire's mask covers her mouth but regularly falls off her nose, showing that she's only interested in appearing socially and morally conscious. Birdie wears a mesh mask that looks (and probably functions) more like a veil than a face mask and immediately tries to initiate a hug regardless of the others' protests, showing that she is much more concerned with how she looks than protecting herself or anyone else. Meanwhile, Peg, her capable assistant, is wearing a functional face mask and keeps it on the entire time the group is on the dock. Duke doesn't wear a mask at all, and neither does his girlfriend, Whiskey, implying that neither of them believe the virus is a real threat or are under the impression machismo will defeat it. Miles doesn't wear a mask, but has an employee spray something in the throats of all the guests that supposedly protects them from the virus. Later revelations show he's more interested in flashy stuff that looks cool rather than anything that has been actually tested and proven to work or be safe to use.
105. Blanc describes the Glass Onion as a metaphor, "an object that seems densely layered, but in reality the center is in plain sight." Not including credits, the murderer can be plainly seen and heard in action at almost exactly the middle - or center - of the film's run time.
106. The name "Miles Bron" is an anagram for the word "bromelins"--protease enzymes contained in pineapples and one of the causes of allergic reactions to pineapple.
107. Body Count: 2, the exact same as Knives Out.
108. Miles dresses as he wants to be perceived. In the flashback, his outfit and haircut are identical to "Frank T.J. Mackey" in Magnolia (1999), a wealthy, misogynistic, "alpha male" style life coach and pickup artist. Later, as a tech magnate, he's wearing a black turtleneck imitative of Steve Jobs, positioning himself as a visionary. Like Mackey, he's hiding his true nature behind a flashy façade. And like Jobs, he's better at making ruthless business moves, leveraging cleverer people to help expand his brand, and marketing his company rather than actually designing new technology.
109. When describing the box he received to Miles, Benoit casually dismisses the puzzles used to unlock it as simple riddles for children. While we later learn that Benoit never actually had to solve them, this line sets up the idea that Bron's "genius intellect" isn't all it's cracked up to be. An actual genius found his puzzles unimpressive.
110. Helen destroys the Mona Lisa to warn against the dangers of Klear. During the months leading up to the movie's release, it became a common tactic to protest fossil fuels by vandalizing famous paintings (non-permanently; the Louvre, unlike Miles, is smart enough to keep a panel of glass over their paintings at all times); the Mona Lisa itself was the target of such an attack earlier that year.
111. Blanc and Bron are positioned as polar opposites. Blanc (name meaning "white") is a compassionate, quick-witted, and insightful problem solver who centers, protects and encourages those he aids. Bron (name meaning "brown" or "dark") is an idea-stealing, manipulative, selfish bombast who takes credit and shifts blame. Blanc offers sincere apologies if he has to disappoint someone. Bron apologizes for nothing. Blanc graciously steps out of the spotlight when he can see that is what is needed, while Bron craves the limelight . They are even both represented by racecar imagery. Early on, Blanc describes his mind as being like a racecar with nowhere to go, a metaphor for his psyche stagnating from forced idleness and lack of challenges. Bron has an actual racecar he keeps on his roof "'Cause there's nowhere to drive it on the island", a tangible symbol of how he uses his own mind (neither feeling nor minding any lack, only seen using it in an emergency). Blanc initially plays an obsequious, bumpkin-like fanboy. Bron presents as an ostentatious, charismatic, and magnanimous eccentric genius. Their characters "cross positions" when the viewpoints switch. Blanc from sham fool to real genius, Bron from sham genius to real fool.
112. When Miles is describing the Mona Lisa, he finishes with the line "it gives you vertigo", and on this line, it cuts to Janelle Monáe's character looking at the painting. Vertigo (1958) also features a character playing another, ( Kim Novak as Madeleine/Judy), and here, Monae is playing Helen Brand, who is performing as her sister Andi.
113. The "secret button" which enables Miles to disable the security shield over the Mona Lisa is in the shape of a court jester in the style of a Hummel figurine (with the characteristic childlike figure with wide-eyed, open-mouthed expression). This carries a double significance. Jester is another word for "fool", which as a profession had two types: one of someone of quick wit who is trained to perform the role of entertainer and subtle or sharp on-the-fly political satirist while feigning ridiculousness; the other someone of limited intelligence, employed as an object of ridicule because of their mental disabilities. Hummel figurines were inspired by the art of German Franciscan nun Maria Innocentia "Berta" Hummel, who created much of her work under the Nazi regime. One of her paintings had drawn the attention and rage of Hitler, which led to her work being banned from being sold in Germany. However, she continued painting, including pieces which openly showed the Star of David. She had been reluctant to have her art replicated or turned into figurines, but agreed to both to support the convent and to help give workers employment. Though incredibly popular and successful, the Nazi regime laid claim to half her proceeds, and she later died at 37 after living in a seized convent in which the remaining nuns were denied heat or easy access to food.
114. This is not Edward Norton's first film where he keeps stealing everyone else's ideas because he has none of his own, the first being The Italian Job (2003).
115. On the boat ride to the island, when observed from the upper deck, Andi is seen standing next to an 'Omega' symbol on the cushion of a seat. This may be foreshadowing of her role in ending the Alpha company Miles has created.
116. Miles describes the beauty of the Mona Lisa as the illusion that the painting changes every time you see her; her smile subtly changes each time. Similar to the plot where every major development and character interaction is recontextualized when looked at again from other perspectives.
117. Duke's pistol appears to be a heavily-engraved and re-gripped Zastava M57, a Yugoslavian copy of the Soviet Tokarev T-33, chambered in 7.62x25mm Tokarev. It is an odd choice for concealed carry since it is single action, meaning the hammer has to be manually cocked for the first shot, but also lacks a manual safety. The assailant is seen manually cocking the hammer before firing at Andi/Helen.
118. The first hour and forty-five minutes of the film tell the same portion of the story twice, from varying points of view, with pieces of dialogue and information missing from one or the other.
119. Even if Miles could get away with murder, maintain his hold over the others, and weather the legal morass he put himself into, the loss of the Mona Lisa truly would ruin him in reputation, power, and wealth. In addition to being directly responsible for the events that led to its destruction, he also invalidated the terms of the agreement *and* the insurance on it by installing the mechanism that would allow the protective shield to open and close at certain noise cues, including, amazingly recklessly, the sound of a lighter flicking. Every asset he had left could be claimed by France and all of his other creditors. He could also never again be mistaken for an eccentric genius as that was an undeniably foolish move.
120. Blanc plays Among Us in the opening scene, and the video game has several similarities to the subsequent plot: The film and game have cozy mystery elements, such as wandering around an enclosed space, trying to interpret people's behavior, and a killer trying to cover their tracks as more bodies pile up. Both works involve an impostor who can change their appearance to look like someone else. Blanc (the White Crewmember) is quickly outed as the impostor. Brand is introduced wearing white, with her ensemble being primarily white throughout the film. Blanc is outed as the impostor because impostors don't have any specific tasks to do on the ship. Most impostors pretend they do anyway to avoid suspicion, but Blanc gives himself away by just standing there and doing nothing. What ends up outing Miles as the murderer is Blanc's realization that Miles is an idiot who doesn't do any real work.
121. During the lead up to the murder mystery game, Birdie asks if the players can team up, and Miles says no. Blanc solves the case by teaming up with Helen, an early indication that both he and Helen meet Mile's description of true "disruptors". Neither follows the arbitrary, counterproductive rules set out by others, instead adopting independent, direct courses of action that actually accomplish their goals.
122. It's fitting (and doubly ironic) that Miles chose to play "Blackbird" as the guests arrived upon the dock. It's a set up for the murder mystery he had planned - Birdie mentions it's "her song." It's likely to be the first clue. Blackbird's guitar accompaniment is a reharmonised adaptation of Johann Sebastian Bach Bourrée in E minor, alluding to Bron's tendency to take others' ideas and appropriate them as his own. Paul McCartney and John Lennon also attempted to learn the song as a "show-off" piece, reinforcing Miles' desire to appear wicked cultured [morally evil] without putting in actual effort. The subject matter of the song, according to Paul McCartney, was at least partially reflecting upon the Civil Rights unrest in 1968, which can also tie back to Bron (a white man) swindling Andi (a black woman) out of her own company.
123. Miles' company/brand is called Alpha because he's the leader of the pack that everyone obeys without question. In other words, the Alpha of the Disruptors. However, the idea of wolf pack "alphas" is a dated scientific concept which reflects wolf hierarchies in captivity rather than in the wilderness (where the power balance is more community-oriented and equitable). Similarly, Bron's leadership of the group was stolen from Andi and maintained through money and veiled threats, not any meaningful degree of personal charisma, authority, or camarederie. This talk of "alphas" also associates him with MRAs like Duke and the dubiously scientific claims about biology or hierarchy the movement often espouses, showing that despite seeming to be a leftist on paper (as he bankrolls Claire's campaign, which with its focus on green energy and her fear of being associated with an MRA seems to be on the left) he's comparable to Duke in many ways, with both men hawking ideas about being revolutionary and powerful that end up being shams.
124. Miles demonstrates the illicit switch he had installed so he can remove the shield over the Mona Lisa at will. However, the shield is heard slamming shut over and over throughout the film without anyone ever pressing the button to lift it. Meaning, Miles further tampered with the mechanism so the protective covering defaults to inactive *unless* something sets off the sensors, and then likely only for as long as it takes for that sound to subside.
125. Regardless of Bron's personal definition of Disruption Theory, Bron himself works well as an example of Disruption Theory in action -- he accelerates his company's innovation to decelerate his competition, which ultimately leads to his downfall.
126. Miles's T.J. Mackey look carries additional subtext (probably accidental on his part): he is pretending to be someone who is also pretending to be someone else. In Magnolia (1999), Mackey builds a career on an image of himself as a sleazy, powerful "alpha male" type who teaches men to prey on and devalue women. However, while they are on camera, a reporter points out he actually cares deeply for at least one woman - his late mother, who he secretly provided with medical and palliative care while she was ailing. Whereupon Mackey physically attacks the reporter. A parallel arc of a person projecting an image, who becomes violent when that image is threatened. Probably not coincidentally, the person Mackey (a wealthy white man) assaults is a Black woman who is unafraid of telling the truth.
127. Andi sends her e-mail from a domain called "imbermail.com". Imber is a Latin word that can mean rain, storm, or stormcloud, among others. Paired with her last name of Brand, which an earlier submitter noted can also reference firebrands, there is a subtle wordplay adding up to "firestorm", similar to the descriptive wording she threatens the Disruptors with - and the literal way in which Helen takes down Bron.
128. Foreshadowing: Along with Alpha (the beginning), Omega (the end) also appears throughout the film. The Omega symbol is on the side of the ship Blanc and the Disruptors travel on (in the place for a ship name), Helen-as-Andi is positioned next to two pillows with the ship's symbol printed on them, Claire wears a robe with the same design, and of course, Blanc's Omega Seamaster watch shown in closeup. All forecast the ultimate end for Alpha and Miles (and eventually all of the Disruptors), while especially highlighting that Helen and Blanc will be the keys to finishing things off.
129. The two "alpha male" type personalities are slapped by someone of superior intelligence and stronger personality, each while getting carried away with themselves in self-perceived stressful situations.
130. Further connections with the color red. Miles personalizes Andi's wristband to glow red, for the Root chakra, which symbolizes strength, survival, and stability. In Western color symbolism, red can also symbolize rage, revenge and fire. And in Greek mythology, as the bulk of the story takes place in Greece, red was used in transitional life events like weddings and funerals, as well as being a symbol of fire and regeneration.
131. When Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is introduced he's playing an online match of Among Us, a multiplayer game where the goal is to find the imposter or imposters, depending the number of players before they kill the rest of the players. In the game the Imposter's name is in red (only visible to the Imposters during the match). Red is important in the movie as the envelope that has Andi's true napkin is that color.
132. Duke's phone shows the outline of a woman. It's a news article on Andi's death.
133. In both this film and the first Knives Out film, the murderer played a Marvel hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Chris Evans as Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and Edward Norton as The Incredible Hulk (2008). Also Dave Bautista plays Drax and Kathryn Hahn plays Agatha Harkness the MCU, and the hot sauce that Miles has was a gift from Jeremy Renner who plays Hawkeye.
134. The Disruptors, who Miles also calls his loyal friends, all turned on Andi once Miles made it clear they were better off backing him. After Helen destroys Miles, they all turn on him as they're now better off choosing reality. Indicating not one of them is a loyal friend or Disruptor. If they were they would have given up their own wants and reputations to support Andi long before the events of the film. If not then, then when Helen asked them to help her get justice.

Genre

Comedy,Crime,Drama

Cast

as Benoit Blanc

as Miles Bron

as Birdie Jay

as Duke Cody

as Andi Brand

as Claire Debella

as Lionel Toussaint

as Peg

as Whiskey

as Derol

as Ma

as Devon Debella

as Efficient Man

as Phillip

as Stephen Sondheim

as Natasha Lyonne

as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

as Serena Williams