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Nov 12, 2023

'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery' Ending, Explained

Our breakdown of Benoit Blanc's latest case. The highly-anticipated sequel Glass

Our breakdown of Benoit Blanc's latest case.

The highly-anticipated sequel Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery has finally arrived on Netflix, with director Rian Johnson building another enticing case for the genius Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig having the most fun) to solve. For this round, Blanc joins a lavish murder-mystery party, hosted by genius tech mogul Miles Bron (Edward Norton) and attended by his group of frenemy sycophants called the Disruptors, played by a stacked cast including Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista, Leslie Odom, Jr., and Kate Hudson.

The film is another deftly-crafted and hilarious ride, filled with Blanc's trademark drawl and the most cameos of any movie this year. It's also an incredibly-timely send up of misunderstood genius and the ultra-wealthy, in a truly jam-packed film.

Ahead, we explain the case's twists and turns. (Proceed at your own risk—spoilers are ahead!)

At first it seems that Blanc will be solving Miles' eventual murder, but then the real mystery of the film is revealed with one of Johnson's inventive twists. An extensive flashback reveals that Andi, Miles' former business partner portrayed by the brilliant Janelle Monáe, didn't decide to come on the trip anyway after Miles and Co. froze her out of her multi-billion dollar company. Andi died over a week ago, and her twin sister Helen (also played by Monáe) believes that she was murdered. When Helen came to Blanc about the murder, he realized the best way to investigate was to join Miles' weekend getaway, with Helen posing as Andi to shake the killer off-guard and help investigate.

A recap of the case: Andi was found dead of an apparent suicide several days before the weekend at the Glass Onion, after she lost her court battle with Miles. Andi had threatened to walk away from Alpha and take half the company so he didn't put more resources into his unstable super-fuel Klear. In response, Miles cut her out of the legal ownership, and when she went to court with a claim that she had intellectual ownership over the original idea, he claimed that he was the one who had written the idea for Alpha on a napkin at the Glass Onion bar all those years ago. He got all the Disruptors to lie for him, and she lost.

On the day of her death, Andi had actually found the original napkin, which was etched with the bar's logo. She was going to use it to prove her case, and she sent an email to each of the Disruptors, with a picture of a red envelope containing the napkin. The reveal would take them all down, not only leaving Miles unable to support all their careers, but also proving them guilty of perjury. Each of the Disruptors had visited Andi's house that night around the time of her death, claiming that they left after Andi didn't answer. The big mystery that Helen and Blanc had to solve was who killed Andi to save Miles' ass, and by association their own, after she discovered the napkin. They nearly solve the mystery, before Helen is shot by an unseen figure.

It turned out that there didn't need to be a degree of separation between Miles and Andi's potential downfalls. Blanc discovers that Lionel had faxed Miles a copy of Andi's email, letting Miles know about the envelope. The mogul was actually in New York at that time, visiting Whiskey, and he drove to her house. Andi was weary of Miles' "machine of lawyers and power," but she didn't fear the ineffectual man at the center. But it turned out that he would do anything to keep his power, including drugging her and faking her suicide. So the person with the most motive killed Andi, her former business partner.

Duke's murder was a spur-of-the-moment decision for Miles. The aggro YouTuber had been courting Miles for a gig at Alpha News throughout the movie, even sending Whiskey (Madelyn Cline) to seduce him. It turns out that Duke had seen Miles leaving Andi's house on the day of her murder and figured out that the tech mogul had something to do with her death. The viewing stats bump that Duke showed Miles right before he died was actually a news alert about Andi's death, as the streamer blackmailed Miles.

As for the poison, Duke and Miles did switch drinks, but it was Miles' move rather than an accident. When the group received the Covid-blocking throat shot earlier in the film, Duke had mentioned an allergy, saying "Duke don't dance with pineapple." So all Miles had to do was prepare a cocktail with pineapple juice and switch the glasses. Duke died because of the allergic reaction, but Miles was able to spin it as an attempted poisoning targeted as himself, to avert suspicion.

By the end of his big deduction speech, Blanc has pulled back all the layers to show that nothing about the case was as complicated as it seemed. He had assumed that Miles Bron was a genius, but he's just a "vanglorious buffoon" who either vamps his way through life (his big words were incorrect and he barely understands disruption theory), or pays/manipulates smart people to do the work and let him take credit (he didn't even write his murder mystery game). His attempt to kill Helen was even stolen from Blanc's warning about the danger of the party. Miles is just a dumb asshole killer who used the easiest or stolen method for each attack.

When the flashback catches up to the present story, we learn that Helen's alive! The bullet hit Andi's diary in Helen's pocket, and they faked her death with Jeremy Renner's hot sauce (which thankfully doesn't exist in real life) to buy her time to search Miles' office. She finds the napkin from the Glass Onion Bar hiding in plain sight, but when she reveals herself to the group, Miles burns the it with his huge lighter. (An idea he got from Lionel, who said about the red envelope, "You didn't just burn it?") He starts gaslighting her and questioning whether anyone saw the napkin at all, as the Disruptors turn away from her. Blanc also can't help her; he leaves after reminding her that he's limited by the law, and their last evidence went up in smoke.

Filled with despair and rage, wanting to hurt Miles in any way possible, Helen starts breaking all of his stupid glass sculptures. One by one, Miles' sycophants finally embrace their own anger at the mogul and their dependance on him. They join in, smashing all the pieces with Helen, as they finally snap at the realization that he doesn't give a care about any of them.

In a final play for destroying everything Miles has built, Helen turns to his own "greatest" creation. Before Blanc left, he slipped her a piece of Klear. Just like Andi warned, the substance is extremely unstable, and when she throws the nugget at the fireplace, the Glass Onion blows up like the "Hindenberg" that Claire had feared. Somehow, everyone survives this.

But wait, the movie still isn't over after the huge explosion. Helen has one more piece of revenge to complete. As she and the others regain consciousness (again, somehow alive, with zero injuries or burns), the remains of the room are all on fire... except the literal Mona Lisa, sitting in its everything-proof case. However, Miles and his inflated ego had shown off the secret key earlier. In dramatic slow-motion, Helen runs for the switch as Miles, Claire, Lionel, and Birdie all try to stop her. She makes it, and with the push of the statue, Miles gets his wish to be mentioned with the world-famous painting in the same breath. As in "Miles Bron, that asshole who destroyed the Mona Lisa with unstable super fuel."

Helen gets a victorious final confrontation, shutting Miles up by reminding him that the incident, which she calls the "public launch of Klear" will ruin him. As he attempts to rally the Disruptors, calling back to his earlier deception with the phrase, "We know what we all saw," the group says that they'll admit both the truth and some lies, rightfully pining Andi and Duke's murders on their former friend. It's an ending that offers perfect, righteous comeuppance to a man as shallow and empty-headed as the Glass Onion. Behind the immense wealth and the made-up words and the "genius," he's an manipulative dumbass whose mirage was finally blown up.

Quinci LeGardye is an LA-based freelance writer who covers culture, politics, and mental health through a Black feminist lens. When she isn't writing or checking Twitter, she's probably watching the latest K-drama or giving a concert performance in her car.

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