Popular Mystery

Glass Onion Release Date

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery was released on Netflix on December 23, 2022.

Glass Onion Director

Rian Johnson is the writer, director, and producer of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.

The Premise

Miles Bron is a tech billionaire who made his fortune with Alpha, this big disruptive company that does… honestly the movie’s a bit vague on what it actually does, but he’s stupid rich. He’s that kind of guy who thinks he’s a genius and wants everyone to know it. He’s invited his oldest friends to his private island in Greece for a murder mystery weekend. These aren’t random people. They’re his inner circle from way back. The group that was there before he got mega-famous.

The guests are: Andi Brand, who co-founded Alpha with Miles but got pushed out of the company. Lionel Toussaint, a scientist who works for Miles. Birdie Jay, a fashion designer who’s kind of a mess. Duke Cody, a men’s rights Twitch streamer, plus his girlfriend Whiskey. And Claire Debella, who’s a governor in Connecticut. They all have history together, they call themselves “the Disruptors” from their college days or whatever.

Miles has set up this whole weekend where he’s gonna fake his own murder and everyone has to solve the mystery. He’s hired a company to design the whole thing, it’s very extra. But then Benoit Blanc shows up, and nobody knows why. Miles swears he didn’t invite him, but Blanc got one of those fancy puzzle box invitations just like everyone else.

The weekend starts and things are already weird. Andi is there even though she and Miles just finished a brutal legal fight where she claimed he stole her napkin with the original Alpha idea on it and forced her out of the company. She lost because she couldn’t produce the napkin in court. So her showing up to his party is awkward as hell, and you can feel the tension.

The Mystery

Duke dies. He’s drinking from his glass and just collapses. Poison. Suddenly, this isn’t a fun game anymore. It’s a real murder, and Blanc’s gotta figure out who did it. The problem is that everyone there had opportunities to mess with Duke’s drink throughout the night.

When you start looking at why someone might wanna kill him… Or why they might have other reasons to do something desperate… Everyone seems guilty. Most of them are financially dependent on Miles in some way, whether it’s funding or connections or whatever. Andi obviously has beef with Miles. There are many messy relationships and secrets.

Blanc starts investigating, and the more he digs, the more layers there are to what’s actually going on. There are questions about why this specific weekend happened, why these specific people are here, and what everyone’s really after. The Glass Onion (that’s what Miles calls his mansion, because it’s made of glass and has layers or whatever) is filled with Miles’s expensive toys and security systems, but someone still pulled off a murder.

Benoit Blanc

Daniel Craig

Benoit Blanc is the world-famous detective who shows up on Miles’s island even though nobody’s quite sure who invited him. He’s got this thick Southern accent that Daniel Craig is clearly having a blast with, and he spends most of the movie observing everyone with this bemused look on his face.

Blanc’s whole thing is that he notices details others miss, and he’s patient enough to let everyone else talk themselves into corners. Craig plays him with this perfect mix of gentlemanly charm and sharp intelligence. He’s not showy about being the smartest guy in the room… He just quietly is.

Miles Bron

Edward Norton

Miles Bron is the tech billionaire who invited everyone to his island, and he’s exactly the kind of guy you think he is. He wants everyone to know he’s a genius, he’s obsessed with disruption and innovation, and his whole personality is basically “what if Elon Musk but even more annoying.”

Edward Norton plays him perfectly as this guy who’s so convinced of his own brilliance that he doesn’t realize how transparent he actually is. Miles has money and power. He uses both to keep his friends loyal to him, but you can tell there’s something hollow underneath all the flash.

The character is meant to be a commentary on tech culture and fake genius. And honestly, it’s not exactly subtle, but Norton sells it.

Andi Brand

Janelle Monáe

Andi Brand is Miles’s former business partner and she’s furious. She co-founded Alpha with him, came up with the original idea, and then got pushed out. She just lost a lawsuit trying to prove Miles stole everything from her, and now she’s at his party for reasons that aren’t immediately clear.

Janelle Monáe is doing the heavy lifting in this movie, honestly. She makes you pay attention whenever she’s on screen. Andi’s the character who feels like she’s got the most at stake, and Monáe plays her with layers. She’s angry but she’s also strategic, she’s hurt but she’s not broken. Without spoiling anything, Monáe gets to show a lot of range here, and she nails it. This is her movie in many ways.

Claire Debella

Kathryn Hahn

Claire is the governor of Connecticut and she’s trying to hold onto her political career while also staying in Miles’s good graces. Kathryn Hahn plays her as someone who’s constantly calculating, always aware of how things look and what the consequences might be.

Claire is practical and cautious, which puts her at odds with the rest of the group’s chaos. Hahn brings this nervous energy to the role. You can tell Claire wants out of this whole mess, but doesn’t know how to extract herself without burning bridges she might need later. Claire has got the most to lose politically.

Lionel Toussaint

Leslie Odom Jr.

Lionel is a scientist who works for Miles, and he’s basically the smartest actual person in the group. Leslie Odom Jr. plays him as someone who knows he’s compromised himself by staying loyal to Miles but doesn’t quite know how to get out.

Lionel needs Miles’s funding for his research, so he has to go along with whatever Miles wants, even when he knows it’s wrong. You can see Lionel’s discomfort in every scene where he has to back up one of Miles’s stupid ideas. The character doesn’t get as much screentime as some of the others, but Odom makes the most of what he’s given.

Birdie Jay

Kate Hudson

Birdie Jay is a fashion designer and influencer who’s basically a walking disaster. She’s constantly saying offensive things on Twitter, she’s vapid and self-centred, and she’s completely dependent on Miles to bail her out of her latest scandal.

Kate Hudson is having so much fun with this role, she plays Birdie as someone who’s not malicious, just genuinely that clueless. There’s something almost endearing about how oblivious Birdie is to her own awfulness. Birdie is the comic relief in a lot of ways, though the joke is pretty clearly on people like her. She’s got some good lines, and Hudson delivers them with perfect timing.

Peg

Jessica Henwick

Peg is Birdie’s long-suffering assistant and honestly she deserves a medal for putting up with her boss’s constant disasters. Jessica Henwick plays her as someone who’s smart and capable, but stuck in this job where she has to do damage control every single day.

Peg is the one cleaning up Birdie’s messes, managing her PR nightmares, and trying to keep her from saying something offensive on Twitter for like five minutes. Henwick brings this exhausted energy to the role that’s really funny. You can see Peg dying inside every time Birdie opens her mouth. The character doesn’t get a ton of screentime but she makes an impression whenever she’s on screen.

Duke Cody

Dave Bautista

Duke is a men’s rights Twitch streamer who showed up with his girlfriend Whiskey, and he’s exactly as obnoxious as that sounds. Dave Bautista plays him as this insecure guy who’s built his whole brand on toxic masculinity but is constantly seeking Miles’s approval.

Duke’s loud and aggressive. He’s desperate to be seen as important, which makes him kind of pathetic. Bautista’s good at showing the neediness underneath all the bluster. The character isn’t super deep. He’s mostly there to represent a certain kind of internet culture.

Whiskey

Madelyn Cline

Whiskey is Duke’s girlfriend, and she’s younger than everyone else, so people treat her like arm candy. Madelyn Cline plays her as smarter than people give her credit for, there’s more going on behind her eyes than Duke realizes.

Whiskey is in a weird position because she’s there as someone’s plus-one but she ends up being more relevant to the mystery than you’d expect. Cline doesn’t get a ton to do. The character is underwritten compared to others.

Reviews

Movie Review

Review: 7.5 / 10

I really enjoyed Glass Onion. It’s not quite as tight as Knives Out was, but it makes up for it by leaning hard into the spectacle and just having fun with how ridiculous rich people can be.

Daniel Craig is clearly loving every second of being Benoit Blanc again, and watching him peel back the layers of this case is genuinely satisfying. The cast is stacked, and everyone brings energy, though some characters get way more to do than others. Janelle Monáe is the star for me!

The twist is clever, maybe a bit too clever for its own good? Like, when everything clicks into place, it’s fun, but I did find myself wishing the movie trusted us a little more along the way. Some of the commentary about tech bros and their fake genius feels a touch on-the-nose. But honestly, we’re past subtlety with these guys.

The biggest issue is that it drags a bit in the middle, and not every joke lands. But when it works, it really works. Glass Onion is a solid mystery, even if it doesn’t quite reach the heights of the first one.

Story Review

The story structure is doing a lot. It starts as a murder mystery party that goes wrong. Halfway through, it pulls this full rewind trick where you see everything again, but from a different angle. Like, you get that “ohhh okay I see what they did there” moment. But getting there takes a while.

The first half kinda drags because you’re just watching rich people be annoying to each other. And you’re like, why should I care about any of this. Once the twist hits and things start moving, it gets way more entertaining.

The whole “tech bro is actually a fraud” thing is pretty on the nose though. We get it, Miles sucks. You don’t need to keep telling us. Still, when the pieces come together, it’s satisfying enough that you forgive some of the slower parts.

Mystery Review

The mystery is solid. Rian Johnson knows how to plant clues and make you feel clever when you catch them. There’s enough going on that you can try to solve it yourself if you’re into that, though the movie definitely wants to outsmart you.

My issue is that it gets messy in the middle with all the different plot threads. You’re trying to keep track of who did what and why, and sometimes it feels like there’s too much happening. Then, when Blanc finally explains everything, the actual answer is kinda simple? Which is the point, the movie’s saying that complex-looking things can have straightforward solutions.

But after all that buildup, it does feel a bit like, wait, that’s it? Still fun to watch unfold though. The mystery works, even if it’s not quite as mind-blowing as it thinks it is.

Acting Review

Daniel Craig is living his best life as Benoit Blanc, just fully committing to the Southern gentleman detective vibe. Janelle Monáe? She’s the real MVP. She’s carrying so much of the emotional weight and absolutely nailing it. Edward Norton makes Miles both pathetic and believable, which is tough because the character could easily be a cartoon.

Kate Hudson’s clearly having fun being ridiculous as Birdie. The rest of the cast is good too, nobody’s phoning it in. Leslie Odom Jr. and Kathryn Hahn are both great, even though their characters feel kinda underwritten. The chemistry between everyone is decent, though again, you don’t always buy that these people have been friends for decades.

Production Review

Visually, this movie is gorgeous. The Glass Onion itself is this wild architectural feat that’s both beautiful and kind of absurd, which fits Miles perfectly. The production design is doing a lot of heavy lifting in character development. Everything Miles owns is expensive and showy. He’s trying too hard, from the art on his walls to the dock where people arrive.

The Greek island setting is stunning, and they make good use of the location. Costume design is fun too, especially for Birdie, who’s dressed in these over-the-top outfits that tell you everything you need to know about her. The cinematography is slick without being distracting. There are some nice shots, but it’s not trying to be overly artistic.

One thing I did appreciate is how the production design helps with the mystery. There are visual clues hidden in the background that matter later. They clearly put thought into making sure the environment itself was part of the puzzle.

Ending Review

The ending is gonna work for you or it won’t, no in between. Things get pretty wild in the final act, lots of dramatic confrontations and literal fire. It’s cathartic watching Miles get what’s coming to him, especially after sitting through two hours of his nonsense.

The mystery resolution makes sense, and everything gets wrapped up. But the movie wants the ending to be this big statement about justice and accountability, and I’m not really sure about it.

It’s definitely entertaining though. Very theatrical, very dramatic, very satisfying if you’ve been waiting for someone to take this guy down. You get closure on everything, no loose threads or weird ambiguous stuff. It’s a solid ending, even if it’s maybe trying a bit too hard to be meaningful. Still, I had fun with it.

Knives Out

Knives Out is an American mystery movie. A rich old man dies, and his entire messy family immediately starts acting suspicious.

The movie kicks off with a sudden death inside a giant mansion, and suddenly everyone is side-eyeing everyone else. Was it natural causes? Was it foul play? Is somebody about to lose their inheritance and spiral? The vibes are tense. Family dinners must have been absolute warfare long before this tragedy.

Then in walks a detective with a Southern accent and a brain that never stops working. He starts interviewing each relative, and wow, these people are shady. Everyone has secrets. Everyone has motives. Everyone swears they are innocent.

Wake Up Dead Man

Wake Up Dead Man is the third Knives Out movie, and detective Benoit Blanc is back to solve another wild case. This time he’s investigating a murder at a small Catholic church in upstate New York.

A monsignor gets stabbed during a Good Friday service, and the main suspect is Father Jud, a young priest with a sketchy past who was sent there to help out. The local police chief brings in Blanc because this is a proper locked-room mystery.

There’s also a missing fortune involved, plus a bunch of quirky church members with secrets, including a devoted church lady, the victim’s illegitimate son, and several other suspicious parishioners.