Glass Onion Ending Explained: Who is The Killer? Why Did Miles Killed Duke and Cassandra? | A Knives Out Mystery
Who is the killer in Glass Onion? This is a question that is not easy to answer, given the complexity of the investigative case presented in the film. As anticipated in the Glass Onion review, the beauty of the sequel to Knives Out is precisely the extreme complexity of the investigation that detective Benoît Blanc is trying to solve. For those who have seen the entire film, the identity of the murderer is not a mystery, but it may not be so immediate to understand all the passages of the complex story told in the film and the role played by everyone present. As the bizarre title of the film Glass Onion suggests, the truth, even when it appears simple and crystalline, hides multiple layers and it’s not always easy to get to the heart of it. Let’s retrace the Glass Onion case together in chronological order to try to understand, point by point, what happens in the film.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery: Plot Summary
The story takes place in a full pandemic, with everyone affected by the tedium of teleworking and not being able to interact with people as they used to. Benoit Blanc is particularly bored because between lockdowns the number of cases to investigate has dropped considerably. Then, one day, he receives an invitation from an eccentric tycoon, Miles Bron, who annually gathers his best friends and organizes games, based on his passion for puzzles and riddles. This time the date is on his private island in Greece, and the theme of the weekend is murder. Only then the dead man escapes us, and Blanc’s presence turns out to be even more fundamental than expected…
Get ready to immerse yourself in a murder mystery in which every rule of the game is completely overturned: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, is not limited to just catching the killer, its narrative offers much more. We are facing a socio-political portrait of the United States of 2019, in which the most astute culprits in circulation are class privilege and greed. On the occasion of his 85th birthday, legendary mystery writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) gathered the family together on his country estate to celebrate together. However, the next morning, the housekeeper discovers that Harlan committed suicide by slitting his throat. But how can you be sure that it is suicide?
The investigation into these mysterious circumstances is being conducted by two policemen (Lakeith Stanfield and Noah Segan) and a famous private detective, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), who is hired by a mysterious unidentified client. The three brought together the entire family – played by an all-star cast, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette and Chris Evans – and Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), the Latin nurse who provided home care to Harlan and with whom the elder made a sweet friendship. Thus, the interrogations follow one another under the watchful eyes of the numerous portraits, statues, wood carvings and statuettes of the villa: the old manor is the only one who knows the bad blood that flows between each member of the family.
Glass Onion Ending Explained: The Friendship Between Cassandra and Miles
Many years before the start of the film Cassandra Brand (played by Janelle Monáe), a young intelligent and ambitious entrepreneur, surrounds herself with a group of friends whose potential is still unexpressed: the model Birdie, the bodybuilder Duke, the scientist Lionel and aspiring politician Claire. It is she who discovers Miles Bron and introduces him to the others. Over time, Miles manages to “unlock” everyone’s potential, launching their career. One evening, while playing pool at their favorite bar (the Glass Onion), Cassandra throws down the idea for a company that will make her and her partner Miles very rich. She does it on a napkin with the club’s logo. This important evidence will subsequently be lost.
At the height of his success, Miles is obsessed with the possibility of marketing an ecological fuel that can save humanity from climate catastrophe and the related energy crisis. Cassandra is not convinced of the goodness of the project and calls out, taking with her the shares of the company she founded to block Miles’ chances of launching his idea. Miles, however, throws her lawyers against her and, thanks to her influence on her group of friends, pushes Birdie, Duke and Lionel to perjure themselves at trial. The three claim that it was he and not Cassandra who scribbled the company scheme on the napkin, ruining her friend. Cassandra can’t prove she’s right, having no more napkins.
Months later, just when Miles is ready to launch his revolutionary fuel, Cassandra finds the original napkin in an old book. Triumphant, immediately sends an email to all of her friends, letting them know that she is ready to expose her cheating. Miles immediately goes to Cassandra’s house, ahead of Duke, Birdie and everyone else. Miles poisons his ex-partner and takes the offending napkin away with him, hiding it in the glass office on her secret island.
Benoît and Sarah Team Up
When Cassandra’s sister, the mild-mannered Sarah (again played by Janelle Monáe), finds her dead body, she goes to Benoît, bored due to the pandemic and the consequent lack of interesting cases. Sarah destroyed the box of puzzles sent by Miles to get an invitation to the deserted island. The woman is very sure that her sister did not take her own life and that one of her friends killed her, staging her suicide. Benoît is intrigued by the complexity of the case and makes a pact with Sarah: she will have to pretend to be Cassandra and go to the island to divert suspicion. Only the murderer can know that he is a bluff.
Benoît will forge the invitation and will show up at the weekend meeting with her so that they can investigate as a couple and find Cassandra’s killer. Despite the initial doubts, Sarah proves to be not only an excellent imitator of her sister but also an excellent detective. It is she who discovers many of the pieces of the puzzle reassembled so far. For her part, Benoît easily solves the fake dinner with murder organized by Miles, starting to investigate what happened to Cassandra.
Why Did Miles Killed Duke and Cassandra?
Although Benoît hushed up the news of Cassandra’s death to avoid blowing Sarah’s cover, the news leaked online. Duke, who has activated notifications on the names of everyone present, reads the news on his smartphone and shows it to Miles, blackmailing him in front of everyone. The billionaire invents the news of the increase in likes and views and allows his friend to join his news service, but shortly after he hands him his drink laced with pineapple juice. The intent is to appear to be the intended victim of the alleged killer, passing off the death of Duke (allergic to pineapple) as a tragic accident.
However, it is he who puts the drink in his hand and shortly after takes away both his gun and his mobile phone, taking advantage of the general desperation. With the firearm, Miles shoots Sarah, who will be saved only by a stroke of luck. Benoît uses the hot sauce that Miles gave him shortly before her to soil her dress and make her look dead. Sarah will then be able to act undisturbed and look for the queen’s proof: the napkin with the Glass Onion logo, the motive for the two crimes, and the object that would prove Miles’ malice.
Sarah succeeds while Benoît stalls. He finds the Ben Nano napkin, prominently displayed in Miles’ office. The millionaire, however, with a skillful coup burns it with a lighter. There is no other evidence left against him and Sarah cannot avenge Cassandra. Benoît moves away from her, placing in her hand a fragment of the fuel that Miles gave him a few hours earlier.
Sarah understands how to take revenge: she begins to destroy works of art and furniture in the room, continuously activating and deactivating the protective glass that shelters the Mona Lisa, the painting that Miles managed to borrow from the Louvre in secret. Once the fuel fragment is thrown into the highly flammable gas recirculation that feeds Miles’ mansion, an explosion is generated that destroys everything. Without protective glass, even the Mona Lisa catches fire.
Sarah managed to get her revenge and, in a diabolical way, fulfill Miles’ wish to make something as famous as the Mona Lisa. Oa he will be the one who destroyed the most famous painting in the world. Lionel, Claire and Birdie say they are ready to testify on Cassandra’s behalf, to restore her good name, albeit posthumously.
