Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery: Difference between revisions

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'''''Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery''''' is a 2022 film on Netflix starring Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc. It is the sequel to ''[[Knives Out]]''. Other actors joining the cast include Leslie Odom Jr., Janelle Monae, and Edward Norton.

* [[An Aesop]]: Never underestimate the power of a simple solution. Andi, {{spoiler|Helen in reality}} smashes the puzzle box in a mix of pragmatism and catharsis rather than join the Disruptors' group call. {{spoiler|The real Andi could have leaked the real napkin to the press or showed her lawyers.}} While Benoit doesn't dismiss the possibility, he does say that {{spoiler|Miles}} is the least likely suspect because surely no one is that stupid because {{spoiler|killing a woman after beating her in a high-profile court case would pin the murder on Miles}}. {{spoiler|Yes, Miles is that stupid}}.

* [[Badass Gay]]: It's revealed that Benoit is either gay, pan or bi, being in a partnership with a man named Philip who is cooking when they both receive the puzzle box.

* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: Eventually, {{spoiler|Helen avengers her sister}} and Benoit uncovers the real criminal of the weekend. {{spoiler|To do so, however, she has to destroy the Mona Lisa using Klear after Miles burns the real napkin, the only proof that she and Benoit had that Andi really created Alpha. Everyone nearly dies in the fire, and the Disruptors agree to testify against Miles for killing Andi and Duke. Whiskey is still mourning Duke, however, and the Disruptor careers are in shambles.}}

* [[Brick Joke]]: Benoit asks politely if the winner of the murder mystery weekend gets a prize like an iPad. Everyone is surprised by the question, but Miles says that he has an iPad if anyone wins. {{spoiler|When Benoit proceeds to solve the mystery in a matter of minutes rather than days, Miles silently and sullenly tosses him an iPad in the privacy of his Glass Onion living room}}.

* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: Benoit Blanc does make up words in the first movie, like "mistruthing," while pretending to be a bumbling Southern gentleman. One thing that he says clued him in to the real killer's identity was {{spoiler|Miles using made-up words like "inbreathiate" and misusing terms like "reclamation". Miles is no genius; he's an idiot. Benoit justifies it in that he pretends to be stupid, but Miles actually ''is''.}}

* [[Irony]]: Despite being a [[Great Detective]], Benoit is terrible at mystery games like ''[[Among Us]]'' and ''[[Clue]]''. The reason is that as he explains to {{spoiler|Helen}}, real-life doesn't have one person with a clear-cut motivation and a murder weapon; people are more complicated than that, which makes cases fascinating for him.

* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: Once again, Benoit puts on the veneer of the ignorant Southern gentleman with some pandemic stir-craziness to put the guests at ease. When Miles reveals he didn't invite Benoit, Benoit becomes serious and warns him that some foul play may occur on the island. {{spoiler|Turns out Benoit put on this air to ensure attention would be focused on him and not Helen, since she expressed worry that she wouldn't be able to impersonate Andi correctly}}.

* [[Occam's Razor]]: Benoit is outraged to realize that this is the answer to the case. {{spoiler|He assumed that the killer would be brilliant in having motive, opportunity, and an alibi as well as the sense to cover their tracks. Miles had only the first two; Whiskey destroys his alibi by revealing he gave her a necklace for her birthday in New York two weeks ago, around the time Andi was murdered, and if Andi hadn't been a black woman, Miles would be the first suspect since they were both subject in a high-profile court case and her last email implicated him. A smart man would have called her bluff and kept lawyering up, but Miles Bron is an idiot who believes his money and the court will protect him. An autopsy of Duke's body would also reveal that he died from his pineapple allergy, and Miles doesn't have one.}}

* [[Polar Opposite Twins]]: {{spoiler|Andi and Helen}} were revealed to be this; one became an entrepreneur and TED speaker, while the other went into teaching elementary school. While {{spoiler|Andi}} was ambitious, she also didn't judge her friends well as shown by the court case. {{spoiler|Helen was content with watching her sister succeed, and is very reluctant to take her place on the island until Benoit convinces her that it's the only way they can find out which of the "Shitheads" murdered Andi.}}

* [[The Reveal]]: Comes out in the second half of the movie: {{spoiler|the real Cassandra Brand died a week before the island getaway. Her sister Helen, an Alabama schoolteacher, found the box in Andi's basement while organizing her things, as well as an email sent to the Disruptors that Andi had found the napkin which proved she came up with the idea for Alpha. Helen realized the napkin was missing, meaning that her sister didn't die by suicide; one of the "shitheads" murdered her. She asked Benoit to go to the island and investigate; he does, on the condition that she come with him posing as Andi. He pulls strings to keep Andi's death out of the news while they're the island and plans to distract the Disruptors while she finds out which of them has the napkin.}}

** A case where this works against Andi; she apparently spent years shedding her native Southern accent to become a TED speaker and entrepreneur, unafraid to show her smarts or courage. During her court case, she spoke out of order when Claire committed perjury on the stand and chose Miles over her, something that may have cost her the suit. On the island, she gets in digs about how everyone is holding onto Miles's "golden titties" and how none of them are self-made. {{spoiler|It was actually Helen, and she was speaking while sloshed on kombucha.}}

** Subverted with {{spoiler|Helen in her real guise. While she has her moments of snark, like when she tells Miles at the end that his new energy fuel destroyed the Mona Lisa, she's overall level-headed and calm}}.

* [[Swiss Cheese Security]]: A plot point; the Mona Lisa is behind protective glass in Miles's living room, but Miles reveals an override switch hidden in a figurine that can slide the panels away. He presses it regularly. {{spoiler|Helen uses the override to ensure that the Klear explosion destroys the painting and Miles fails to stop her.}}

* [[Token Good Teammate]]:

** According to {{spoiler|Helen}}, Andi was this out of the Disruptors: smart, ethical, and highly conscientious unlike smooth-talking Claire, misogynistic Duke, boot-licking Lionel, and opportunistic Miles. That was why she refused to approve Klear, saying that the math and chemistry meant that it was a dangerous experimental fuel. If Alpha backed it, they would be sponsoring a walking moral hazard. {{spoiler|Helen blowing up the Glass Onion proved that Andi was right all along and indirectly avenged her}}.

** While Peg's main job is putting out Birdie's literal and metaphorical fires, she's not a bad person. In fact, most of her screentime is calling out Birdie for how her stupidity makes both of their jobs harder, and confiscating her phones to keep her boss off Twitter. The only morally ambiguous action she has is advising Birdie strongly to {{spoiler|not take the fall for the sweatshop allegations, even if Birdie was genuinely guilty of it due to believing that "sweatshops" were the place that sweatpants are made, because Birdie may be able to lie low and build her career but Peg doesn't have that option as a Personal Assistant. She threatens to walk off the job despite the hush money that Miles is offering for Birdie that could allow them to start over, saying she didn't sign up for this}}. {{spoiler|Peg ends up missing [[The Summation]] due to Benoit ordering her to radio the police boats ASAP, meaning she actually didn't see Miles do any wrong and giving her a reason to not want to testify against him}}.

* [[Villainous Breakdown]]: {{spoiler|Miles has one}} after {{spoiler|Helen uses the Klear crystal to blow up the Glass Onion, and the Mona Lisa with it}}. He stamps on the ground petulantly while calling {{spoiler|Helen}} a baby and a child. {{spoiler|She stuns him into silence by pointing out that Klear just blew up the most famous painting in the world.}}

* [[Villain Has A Point]]:

** Duke is dumb and a jerk, but he makes one legit point to Andi when she demands the truth at the dinner party about why the Disruptors all stabbed her in the back; they all are dependent on Miles and he admits it, but Andi showed that not playing Miles's game means that she lost out on that tether. She couldn't have expected them to forget that Miles is essentially holding their income hostage.

** {{spoiler|Miles may be an idiot}} but he makes some legit points in the climax: {{spoiler|without the napkin, there is no proof that Andi founded the company or that he murdered her and no one actually saw the original napkin before he burned it. They'd have to lie to implicate him, and the Disruptors are too scared of losing their careers to do that. Benoit and Helen even admit as such, with Benoit helping Helen find another way to ensure Miles faces justice.}}

 

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