Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (titled onscreen as simply Glass Onion) is a 2022 whodunit film written and directed by Rian Johnson, who produced it with Ram Bergman. The sequel to Knives Out (2019), Daniel Craig reprises his role as Benoit Blanc, a master detective taking on a new case. The film features a new ensemble cast consisting of Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista. The title of the film comes from the Beatles song “Glass Onion”.
Glass Onion is now available for streaming on Netflix.
Credits/links/references:
→ “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (2022): Courtesy of Netflix
→ “Knives Out” (2019): Lionsgate
0:00 Intro
1:13 Motivation for this topic
3:08 Protagonists/Heroines
5:31 Villains/Killers
7:38 Blondes Just Want To Have Fun… and Money!
8:30 The Pretend-Ally
9:53 The Internet-Fixated Gen-Z
11:01 The Golden Girl
11:49 Noah Segan
12:26 JGL
13:17 The leftovers
14:42 Final Thoughts
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#GlassOnion #KnivesOut #Netflix
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If you’re new here, check out some of my other content! 😍🎬✨
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12:48
JGL was the lead/detective in Rian Johnson's very first whodunit: Brick. Underrated movie and still one of RJ's best.
Also there are some other similarities: the "disruptors" and the Thrombey's both want to screw over the person responsible for their wealth (Harlan and Andi) and the killer is the one who takes that the furthest. Harlan and Andi also die before their respective film begins, are only seen in flashbacks, and they share many personal failings (they let others ride their coattails only to realize too late that they're doing more harm than good, trusting that those close to them wouldn't hurt them even when they have every reason to). I think Duke is a bit of a combination of Walt and Richard: Walt in the way they both aren't supposed to be taken seriously no matter how hard they try to act tough and Richard in that they are both the most outwardly toxic of the group (plus both characters deal with infedelility, but in different ways).
Giant plot hole ruined this film for me. Why Miles doesn’t question the person he killed showing up at the island with the greatest investigator in the world is just too glaring and dumb
I just watched Knives Out & Glass Onion in a row, so this video is very timely for me (I hadn't seen either yet). I'll check out the other video essays later, I think I ignored them at first because I hadn't seen the films yet. I'll admit some of your videos aren't about media I'm all that interested in, so I'm unlikely to check those out. I tend to appreciate your take on things I do find interesting, though, so who knows, I might.
Great points made! It made me so happy to see Johnson go for a similar 'heroine character' this time around instead of having Blanc carry the movie by himself, I hope it's a trend that will continue. Also, it's probably been mentioned before in the comments, but the biggest parallel I saw between the two movies is in the fact that both ensembles (roughly) consist of wealthy people who convince themselves they're self-made, talented, 'the cream rising to the top' or what have you… while actually having received their biggest push (and in some cases remaining fully dependent on) one rich, powerful person. They're two different flavours in the Eat The Rich buffet: old money and new money.
something I didnt see mentioned is how rian dealt with "cancel culture" when miles has his disruptor monologue, birdie and duke got canceled. miles frames their cancellation for blackfacing and the fake pills as something brave and "disruptive" while its a legit career ending move.
Then miles single handedly bankrolls her sweatpants company and his youtube career and is about to buy out birdies shares so even if she loses the company she will be fine.
Lovely analysis and I'm definitely checking your other ones, but I would offer Whiskey as more of the fake ally than Peg since Whiskey actually came to Helen, like Meg, to side with them in private but when push comes to shove ditch them
Duke and Fran are also connected in the way that they both have information that can incriminate the murderer and that's why they're killed.
I'd actually argue that Meg and Whiskey are closer parallels across the movies. Both are seemingly sympathetic to the protagonist (and by that I mean how genuine they are is somewhat cloudy): Meg is constantly making efforts to be supportive of Marta up until it looks like she might lose her tuition money. Meanwhile, Whiskey makes a point to talk to Helen/"Andi" and tell her that what was done to her was wrong, but like the others isn't willing to go against Miles to help Helen. They are also both the most affected by the "second" deaths, with Meg being informed of Fran's death at the end and clearly upset by it and Whiskey mourning Duke for the rest of the movie after he dies. So, they're both the most sympathetic out of the "money" group, while still not willing to fully give up their comfort to do the right thing.
I didn’t make the connection between Meg and Peg! Even their names are similar. Rian Johnson really knows what he’s doing.
I think there are some parallels between Walt and Lionel in that they're both in charge of the day to day running of large empires, but are still beholden to more forceful personalities that have power over them and never truly give them the opportunity to flourish or take control of that empire. They also both ultimately lose their position and everything they've worked at building for someone else after that person (who has benefitted from their stewardship over the empire) either removes them or destroys the empire, illustrating how precarious their position was all along. Notably, Walt has mobility issues and Lionel is a black man, so they both have marginalized aspects to their identities; but they gain power not through challenging the system that would marginalize them, but instead by being subservient to powerful white men and acting as stewards for empires that benefit from the status quo and ultimately reinforcing that system. Granted, that last point is rather tenuous, since we never see Walt ever struggle with his mobility particularly and his issues wouldn't at all bar him from advancing in most jobs whereas Lionel, as a black man in America, would face substantially more hurdles; I will not that we rarely see Walt without his cane, which is a visual reinforcement of his physical issues, so it is still definitely emphasized.
i loved your recent two videos on these two movies and now i’m excited to go watch your knives out four-parter. somehow in my perusing of knives out videos a while ago i missed them
A thing I loved in Glass Onion is how all of Miles’ expensive glass sculptures are copies of already famous statues like Bird in Space or… THE MALTESE FALCON.
I agree that alphabetical listing in the credits would be good but I think there is a more revealing tell for who the bad guy is. In both movies it's been the biggest non-Daniel Craig star in the ensemble. Definite hands down yes for Chris Evans, and while it's a little fuzzier in Glass Onion, Ed Norton's only competition for biggest star (not counting Daniel Craig) would have been Kate Hudson. Neither of them are at their peak, which makes it trickier, but they've both been the primary protagonists in multiple popular films. Everyone else in Glass Onion is well known but not as a major headliner. Norton probably takes the cake over Hudson for lots of reasons, but Fight Club, alone, is probably enough to win the argument for most people.
I am a sucker for meaningful names. Andi's full name is Cassandra, named after the Greek mythological figure whose true prophecies were never believed or heeded. Helen, of course, is a reference to Helen of Troy, possessed of "the face that launched a thousand ships." Andi told Miles the truth over and over and was dismissed, and she never got her due credit for Alpha's success. Helen's presence leads the Disruptors/Shitheads to eventually turn on Miles, and her expressions often emulate the Mona Lisa, another famous beauty (which she destroys).
New to the channel but I’ve loved this video and your previous one on Glass Onion, will definitely be checking out more of your content
I love love loved Glass Onion but I do find myself grating against the idea that the whodunnit itself is a wholly unique because for any Brit who watched Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple – A murder is announced, the person who plans the party/seemingly intended victim always planned to kill “the mistaken victim”. I’m not clever for knowing it was him, it just was the only thing that made sense from the minute he’s introduced if you’ve watched/read enough Agatha Christie.
Again the padding and characters of this plot were very Rian Johnson signature as you’ve pointed out though and great to watch 😊
Personally I think there’s something to be said about a non-comedic parallel between Lionel and Walt because they’re both figureheads of businesses while really working under Miles/Harlan.
Meg looked to have been forced to side with her family though
I think Rian is smart enough to realize that two points define a line and is ready to shake things up in the next outing. I agree about the alphabetical casting! The White Lotus did that and that show really strings us a long and throws us off constantly
Is it wrong I genuinely like the idea that a main villain is a royal moron? It’s kind of a neat idea I’m surprised hasn’t been explored much in media
I'd pair Juanetta Thromby with Darrell, actually. They're the character introduced as being so unimportant that you're sure they'll be important, but then they turn out to be unimportant.
I personally see a bit of a connection between duke and Richard as well as Linda and Lionel. Duke and Richard are the loud obnoxious guys you are meant to hate. Throughout both movies they each make controversial and offensive comments toward the main protagonist ( Marta and Helen). I think they actually match up pretty well in the sense that you almost want them to be the killer so that they can be brought to justice in some way. I do think their similarities aren’t as prominent as the other parallels you mentioned. I think Lionel and Linda are also played as the straight-man, lawful neutral characters. When they are first presented you almost hope that they will be the “good guys” or “not as bad as the other guys” characters, but something happens that reveals them to be as morally bad as the other characters ( Linda’s breakdown at the will reading, accusing Marta of everything; Lionel testing Klear). Again this one isn’t a super strong parallel but it’s there.