Where there’s a mystery, there’s Benoit Blanc to solve the case. Daniel Craig‘s southern detective returns to help identify a killer in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which hit Netflix on Friday, December 23.
The movie finds Blanc invited to a fancy shindig with a group of well-connected pals. Miles Bron (Edward Norton), a successful tech CEO, organized the Grecian trip for his closest buddies amid the pandemic: scientist Lionel (Leslie Odom Jr.), politician Claire (Kathryn Hahn), men’s rights activist and Twitch streamer Duke (Dave Bautista) with girlfriend Whiskey (Madelyn Cline) and socialite Birdie (Kate Hudson) with assistant Peg (Jessica Henwick). Miles’ ex-business partner Andi (Janelle Monáe) shows up, though Miles assumed she’d ignore the invite. Meanwhile, Blanc has also received an invitation — that the billionaire claims he never sent.
Eventually, the Rian Johnson-directed movie reveals that Andi is dead. Her twin sister, Helen (also played by Monae), showed up in her place. Andi died days earlier by apparent suicide, but Helen believes one of her former friends killed the businesswoman. She called Blanc in to help her solve the case.
Years ago, Andi was forced out of the Alpha company when Miles claimed the intellectual property was all his and cut her out of the business. Andi’s friends supported Miles because he bankrolled them all in some way. Just before Andi died, she found the cocktail napkin with her plans that proved the company was her idea. She sent a photo of the document to her ex-besties, triggering them all to visit her at different times on the day of her death.
Helen’s appearance as Andi isn’t unbelievable to the group because Andi’s death hasn’t been publicly announced yet. While they are all shocked to see her actually show up, only one person is spooked because she’s supposed to be dead.
However, that changes once Duke gets a news alert on his phone that Andi is dead. It turns out he drove past Miles on his way to Andi’s house on the day she died, and he realizes Miles is the killer. He uses this to his advantage, blackmailing the tech boss into giving him a show on Alpha News.
Duke isn’t great for publicity with his men’s rights activism, and Miles decides that he can’t have anyone know about how he murdered Andi. So what’s one more murder? Miles then pours pineapple juice — which Duke is deathly allergic to — into his own cup and switches his glass with Duke’s. It looks like a simple mistake but kicks off a wild ending.
In an attempt to kill Helen to keep her quiet, Miles uses Duke’s gun – but is unknowingly unsuccessful. Luckily, Andi’s twin then finds the original napkin in Miles’ office and reveals her identity to the group. However, Miles burns the napkin to ash so there’s no evidence. Blanc says there’s nothing more he can do without physical evidence — but Helen can change things.
She destroys Miles’ glass sculptures, which are all over his mansion. The billionaire fueled the villa with Klear, his clean energy system, despite his team warning him that it’s unstable. He planned to take the product public, putting it in place all over the world, despite the potential danger.
As the group learns of Miles’ murders, they turn against him, realizing they’re entirely disposable and more lives are on the line if Klear is taken public. They’re willing to testify against him.
The explosion doesn’t kill anyone, but it destroys the Mona Lisa, which Miles had on loan from the Louvre. He’s responsible for losing the iconic painting, his product has been proven dangerous and his friends are all willing to take the stand to make sure he is charged with murder.
