Spoiler Alert!
The film "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery," released in 2022, is a sequel to the film "Knives Out," which came out in 2019. It is a crime thriller film that is full of mind-bending mysteries. The story of this film has as much mystery as the previous film, if not more. So let's recap the story of this film in detail without any delay.
The film's first scene takes place on May 13, 2020, when the world was troubled by COVID-19 and there was a lockdown everywhere. Miles Braun (played by Edward Norton), the owner of a famous company called Alpha, sends puzzle boxes to his friends. The introduction to the people who got those boxes is as follows: Claire (played by Kathryn Hahn), a governor; Lionel (played by Leslie Odom Jr.), a scientist in Miles’ company Alpha; fashion designer Birdie (played by Kate Hudson); YouTuber Duke (played by Dave Bautista); and Alpha Company’s co-founder and former CEO Andy (played by Janelle Monáe). There are two other characters as well: fashion designer Birdie's manager Peg (played by Jessica Henwick) and YouTuber Duke's girlfriend Whiskey (played by Madelyn Cline). After finding the puzzle boxes, Claire, Lionel, Birdie, and Duke go on a conference call to solve the puzzles. Solving the last puzzle opens a box that contains a glass onion. In the middle of that glass onion is Miles' note to them. According to the note, Miles has invited them to a party on his private island for the weekend, where they will be able to get away from the lockdown and play a game of solving the mystery of Miles' fake murder. While the four are happy to receive Miles' invitation and are excited to visit Miles' private island, Andy looks strange after receiving a puzzle box and smashes it with a sledgehammer.
In the next scene, we meet Detective Blanc (played by Daniel Cragg), whom we have already seen in the film "Knives Out." Detective Blanc is a private investigator. He is very clever, flamboyant, practical, and a gentleman. Often referred to as the world's greatest detective, he is always busy solving cases. But due to the lockdown, he is stuck at home. But then he receives the same invitation from Miles.
Then detectives Blanc, Claire, Lionel, Birdie, her manager, Duke, and his girlfriend reach Greece. When everyone was boarding the ship to go to Miles' private island, Andy also reached there. The four are shocked to see her, as Miles had fired her from the company long ago due to a fight. Later, they reach Miles’ island. Then Miles shows his island to everyone, which he has named Glass Onion. After that, he sends everyone to their rooms. But he stops Detective Blanc and takes him to his office. There, he asks the detective why he is here because he didn't send him any invitations. Then Blanc shows Miles the invitation letter he sent and tells him that he too got the puzzle box and that perhaps one of his friends reset his/her box and sent it to him. Hearing this, Miles tells Blanc that it is good that you have come, now his murder mystery game will be more fun. Blanc then tells him that according to his previous experiences (a reference to the previous film), whenever he receives an anonymous invitation, something bad is going to happen. But Miles does not take him seriously and leaves after inviting him to join him at the swimming pool.
Then in the next scene, everyone is gathered near the swimming pool and talking. A very nice toy car is kept near the pool, which contains the drinks. Upon seeing the car, Blanc compliments Miles, and Duke asks Miles if he remembers that he nearly pancaked him with this same car last week. Miles nods. Then we learn that Duke always carries his gun with him. While all this is happening, Claire and Lionel are having a private conversation. Here we see that Blanc is keeping an eye on everyone and trying to find out if any of them have any motive to kill Miles. Then we see Duke's girlfriend trying to get a little too close to Miles. Birdie is watching the two of them when her manager comes over and asks her to beg Miles for something. In response, Birdie tells her that she'll take care of it. She further tells her that there was a time when Miles was nothing and she was famous, but today he's come a long way, and she's left behind.
In the next scene, when everyone is seated, Blanc asks Miles how he and his friends came together and why he calls his group "the disruptors." Then Miles explains that the reason for his and his friends' success is to think outside the box. He says that those people disrupted the system and created a new one for themselves, and that is why he calls his group "the disruptors" and that is the reason why they are together. Andy was patiently listening to him, and when she can't take it anymore, she tells Blanc that the real reason the other four are with Miles is not their success, but because they are indebted to him. She further explains that Claire is with him because Miles finances her election campaign, Lionel is with him because he works for Miles' company Alpha, Birdie is with him because Miles is the angel investor in her fashion brand, and Duke is with him because Miles' media company promotes his streams on YouTube since he was banned from Twitch. And now all of them are afraid of what will happen to them if they don't support Miles, and because of this fear, these people backstabbed her. No one says anything, and she leaves from there.
In the next scene, Birdie's manager requests that Miles not ask Birdie to take responsibility for the Bangladesh issue, as it would end her career along with Birdie's. But he does not agree and says that Birdie will have to go in front of the media and take responsibility. Peg remains stunned, and he goes into his room. Detective Blanc was watching all of this from a distance. Then in the next scene, Duke sees that his girlfriend is in bed with Miles. Duke becomes enraged when he sees this, but he is powerless to intervene. Blanc watches this from a hidden spot.
In the evening, when everyone comes to the party hall, they get mesmerized by the beauty of the place and the glass idols. Miles offers everyone the drink of their choice. Then everyone's eyes go to the painting of Monalisa. Everyone thinks it is a copy of the original painting, but Miles tells them that it is the original painting that he got as security for the loan to France. He goes on to say that he wants his name to be immortalized like Monalisa's painting. He also says that he has invited world leaders to this island, to whom he will show his company's discovery, i.e., a new source of energy called "solid hydrogen fuel." Claire and Lionel are shocked to hear this, and Lionel tells Miles that he cannot do this as it is not ready yet and that it will take him two years to confirm the safety of solid hydrogen fuel. Here we learn that somehow Claire is also involved in the "Solid Hydrogen Fuel" project. Upon listening to Lionel, Miles tells everyone that his entire island is powered by the very same solid hydrogen fuel, which means that solid hydrogen fuel works and is safe. Lionel and Claire are still in doubt. But Miles ignores them and invites everyone for dinner.
At the dinner table, Miles tells everyone the rules for solving his fake murder mystery. According to him, it will take them the entire weekend to solve the mystery. But Detective Blanc solves his fake murder mystery in under a minute. Miles gets angry as his entire weekend’s plan is ruined by Blanc in a matter of minutes. But when both of them reach Miles' office, Blanc tells Miles that he did this on purpose because Miles has invited seven such people to his island who have at least one motive to kill him. He then goes on to explain the possible motives of everyone: Lionel's reason is that Miles threatened to end his career if he did not allow the solid hydrogen fuel to be used in the manned rocket going into space. Claire's reason is that if she does not approve of Miles' power plant, he will not finance her election campaign and support her opponent. Birdie's reason is that her Sweetie Pants brand of clothing is made in sweatshops in Bangladesh, and Miles has asked her to take full responsibility for it to save his image. Duke's reason is his girlfriend's relationship with Miles. After telling him this, Blanc warns him to be careful. Blanc then notices a napkin framed nearby. Miles tells him that it is the same napkin on which he wrote the original idea for his company and showed it to Andy for the first time.
Then in the next scene, everyone is sitting in the party hall having a drink. Then Duke tells everyone that he will leave the island the next day. His girlfriend does not like this. But Lionel agrees with Duke. Birdie's manager also advises her to leave. Then Andy walks in, and Claire drunkenly confesses that all of them backstabbed her, and now they are stuck with Miles. But she doesn't have any other option, and she doesn't feel sorry for it. Andy then tells them that Alpha was her company, her life, and they have taken it from her. Then Claire asks her what she really wants. She responds that she wants to know the truth. Then Duke says that all four of them played the winning game, and Andy played the losing one. That's why they won and she lost. Hearing this, Andy stomps out in frustration.
Then Miles and Blanc came to the party hall. Duke shows Miles a notification on his mobile, saying that it is everywhere on the internet and it changes everything. Miles agrees with him. After that, Duke suddenly started choking and died before anyone could understand what was happening. Everyone gets scared, and his girlfriend starts crying. Then Blanc asks Lionel to call the police and forbids everyone to touch Duke's body. Lionel goes to call the police. Blanc tells everyone that someone must have spiked Duke's drink, causing his death. Then Lionel comes and tells everyone that the police cannot come before 6:00 AM as the ship is the only way to reach the island, and due to low tide, the ship cannot come now. Then Miles shows everyone that the glass from which Duke took his last sip was not Duke's, but his. That means someone was trying to kill him, not Duke. He then offers Blanc $1 billion to find the murderer. Meanwhile, Duke’s phone keeps getting notifications. Blanc wants to put his phone on silent mode, but his phone is nowhere to be found. Then everyone sees Duke’s empty gun holder and notices that Whiskey and Andy are also missing. But suddenly the power goes out, and it is dark everywhere. While everyone is still scared, Whiskey arrives there with a speargun and tells them that it was Andy who killed Duke and trashed his room. Seeing a speargun in Whisky’s hand, Miles gets scared and runs away. Blanc goes after Miles but runs into Andy. Then he tells her about Duke’s murder and starts explaining something to her. But someone takes advantage of the darkness and shoots Andy. Everyone comes there after hearing the sound of the gun. But Blanc angrily tells everyone to gather in one place because one of the survivors is Andy and Duke's killer.
The second half starts, and the story goes into flashback. That was the day Detective Blanc received Miles' invitation. That day, Andy's twin sister, Helen (Janelle Monáe, in a double role), went to Detective Blanc's house with the pieces of the box that Miles had sent to Andy. She told Blanc that 2 days ago she received news that her sister, Andy, had committed suicide by taking sleeping pills. Her body was found in a car parked in the garage of her house. But she did not believe that her sister had committed suicide, as she was a very brave girl. She also used to keep a diary, in which she used to write the things going on in her mind, and there was nothing in that diary that would point toward her committing suicide. She then showed Blanc a printout of an email Andy sent to Claire, Lionel, Birdie, and Duke, in which Andy sent them a photo of a red envelope offering them one last chance. There was no response to this email, but the very next day she was found dead, and the red envelope was missing.
(In the flashback) Blanc also sensed something fishy about the situation, and he agreed to assist Helen on the condition that she come to the island disguised as Andy. Then, together, they would be able to solve the mystery of Andy's murder. He also warned her that one of the people on the island would know the truth, as he/she was the one who killed Andy. But that person would not be able to expose her because of the fear of exposing himself/herself, and they would get enough time to solve the mystery of Andy's murder. Helen learned everything about those people with the help of Andy's diary and prepared herself to go to the island. Andy's diary also revealed that initially Andy, Claire, Lionel, Birdie, and Duke were friends, and Andy was the leader of their group. She was the one who introduced Miles to them. Then one day, while sitting in a bar named Gloss Onion, Andy wrote the plan of Alpha Company on a napkin, and with the help of the idea written on the same napkin, she and Miles started Alpha Company, which became a successful venture in no time. Two years ago, Miles got the idea of solid hydrogen fuel from someone. He was ready to stake all the company’s assets on it. But Andy refused because solid hydrogen fuel could have become a threat to the world, and she did not want to spend her money on such research. But with the help of his lawyers, Miles fired her from the company without giving her a single share of the company. Andy filed a case for this, but due to the loss of evidence, she had to resort to witnesses, and at the time of their testimony, Claire, Lionel, Birdie, and Duke backstabbed her and supported Miles out of their greed. But a few days after losing the case, she found the napkin with the original idea written on it, put it in a red envelope, and emailed the photo to all four of them. This much information was enough for Blanc to start working on this case. Now it's Detective Blanc's job to find the murderer.
(Still in flashback) Blanc first prevented news of Andy's death from reaching the media, after which Helen impersonated Andy and arrived on Miles' Island. Now we see that whenever Blanc was talking to those people and Helen/Andy was not with them, she was keeping an eye on the others and trying to find out if any of them had the motive to kill her sister. During this investigation, Helen talked to Whiskey and learned that Whiskey has a good heart, but she is stuck with Duke because she wants to make a name for herself with his help. Then Helen overheard Claire and Lionel talking about how Claire had approved Miles' power plant and Lionel had approved the use of solid hydrogen fuel in the rocket. And now Miles wants to deliver hydrogen gas to people's homes, which can be very deadly. Then both of them got scared, thinking that if anything went wrong, both of their careers would end. She put a voice recorder in Birdie's bag and found out that Birdie agreed to take all the blame for the Bangladesh affair in exchange for Miles giving her $30 million.
(Still in flashback) Claire, Lionel, and Duke met Andy/Helen and informed her that they had gone to her house to meet her after receiving her email. Duke was the first to arrive there. Then Claire and Lionel arrived. They knocked on the door but got no answer from inside. They also called, but there was no answer to that either. They left after waiting for an hour. Later, Birdie also went to her house, but she also did not find anyone there. Helen then learned that the purpose of their visit to Andy's house was not to support her but to dissuade her from taking any action. After learning this, she stomped away from them.
During this investigation, Helen and Blanc found a copy of the fax in which Lionel sent a printout of Andy's email to Miles. It turned out that Miles also knew that Andy had found the napkin with the original idea. This was immediately after the scene in the first half of the movie when we were shown Whiskey on Miles' bed. Then we learn that Duke's YouTube career is in jeopardy, and to save it, he plans to feature on Miles' news channel to get some publicity. For this, he asked Whiskey to impress Miles. And that was the reason why Whiskey was trying to lure Miles.
After this investigation, Blanc concluded that all four of them had the motive to protect Miles by killing Andy. Now, to find the real murderer, they needed the red envelope that only the murderer could have. Because the murderer must have brought the envelope to the island to prove his loyalty to Miles.
(Still in flashback) Then later that night, while Blanc was keeping everyone engaged, Andy was searching everyone's rooms. But unfortunately, the news of Andy's death got leaked to the media. Helen was checking the news when Duke got killed and the power shut down. This is the time when Blanc met Helena while searching for Miles in the first half of the movie. She told him that she did not find the envelope in their rooms. Then Blanc thought, "What if the killer has already given the envelope to Miles?" That means now Helen has to check Miles' room as well. But this was the time when someone shoots Andy/Helen in the first half of the film. But in reality, she survived because the bullet was stopped by Andy's diary, which was in her pocket. Blanc made a plan before everyone reached the scene after hearing the gunshot and asked Helen to pretend to be dead. That's why, in the first part of the film, everyone thought that Andy was dead. Blanc then stopped everyone from going near Andy/Helen and took them to the party hall, giving Helen enough time to check Miles' room. Once everyone was in the hall, Helen searched Miles’ room and found the envelope there.
Now the story comes to the present, where Detective Blanc tells everyone that he has been observing Miles ever since he arrived on the island. Before meeting Miles, he thought of him as a complicated genius, but now he knows that Miles is an idiot who claims credit for the work done by others.
But Miles ignores this and asks him to tell him the name of the person who is trying to kill him. Then Blanc tells him that no one is trying to kill him. But Miles argues that it was the drink in his glass that killed Duke, which means that the drink was meant to kill him. Then Blanc reveals that Miles was the one who gave that glass to Duke and spiked the drink with pineapple juice, to which Duke was hyper-allergic. And the reason for killing Duke was that, on the day of Andy's death, he saw Miles coming from Andy's house, and that was when he almost got pancaked by Miles’ car (a reference to Duke’s dialogue in the swimming pool scene). And today, when the news of her death got leaked in the media, he showed it to Miles and tried to blackmail him by saying that it changes everything.
Then Helen comes to the party hall with that red envelope. Blanc further reveals that when Lionel sent a copy of Andy's email to Miles, Miles was afraid that he would lose everything. So the next day he goes to Andy's house and kills her by putting sleeping pills in her drink and putting her body in her car, which is parked in the garage of her house. And today, when Duke was showing him the news of Andy's death, he stole Duke's gun while hugging him and fired at Helen with it. But she was lucky that she was saved by Andy's diary.
Helen then displays the real napkin. But Miles burns it and says that now no one has any evidence, and he blackmails his friends to support him. Helen asks everyone for help in exposing Miles, but all four say nothing. She then turns to Detective Blanc, who hands her a glass of wine and tells her that he too can't do anything.
After galloping the drink, Helen begins breaking the glass idols and decorations. All the others also join her because they too are fed up with Miles' repeated blackmail. After breaking everything, Helen sets it on fire and throws the same solid hydrogen fuel into the fire that Miles showed everyone in the first part of the film. As soon as it reaches the fire, the hydrogen fuel dissolves in the air, spreads over the entire island through the centralized firefighting system, and burns everything. Simultaneously, Miles' one-of-a-kind Porche and the original painting of the Mona Lisa are also burned. In this way, everything that Miles holds dear burns down, and after that, his friends also agree to testify against him. Then Helen comes to Blanc, and we learn that it was all Blanc's plan, and he is the one who gave the piece of solid hydrogen fuel to Helen while giving her the glass of drink. Then the police boat is seen coming in the distance, and the film ends here.
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