33 details you may have missed from 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery'

The opening scenes of "Glass Onion" portray tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) as a secluded, misunderstood genius who likes to test his friends. However, by the end of the movie, it's revealed that this is a facade and the character is just as big of an idiot as the people he surrounds himself with. 

On the second watch, one might notice the signs were there from the very start. When Lionel Touissant (Leslie Odom Jr.), Miles' lead scientist, tries to defend his friend's plans to the company board, he brings up how the tech leader sends wild ideas to him via fax. 

In hindsight, these ideas seem like someone just throwing random words at the wall and seeing what sticks, which is probably why "Child = NFT" was the only idea mentioned that actually turned into a successful business venture.

After Miles' friends complete his game box, they find an invitation to his private island in Greece. What's interesting about the card is there's a symbol of an evil eye, or a mati, which has had different meanings throughout history.

Its inclusion could be a connection to Greece, where the film takes place. It could also be because the symbol is worn to ward off evil and may be a reference to how the so-called disruptors group, the name Miles gives his friends, protects Miles and helps keep him in power.

"Among Us," an internet game where players try to find a killer in their group, went viral in 2020, partly because everyone was stuck at home during the pandemic.

When we first meet our lead detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), he's trying to play the game with a group of celebrity friends.

The fact that it's a game where one of the players is a secret murderer foreshadows the murders by an unknown party later in the movie.

The movie reveals the detective is playing with none other than Angela Lansbury, Stephen Sondheim, Natasha Lyonne, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, all portraying themselves.

All of these celebrities have a connection with murder mysteries. Lyonne is set to star in Johnson's murder mystery series "Poker Face" while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar previously played himself in the 1985 murder mystery "Fletch."

Lansbury, who is named "MSheSolved" in the "Among Us" game, was the iconic star of the classic murder drama "Murder, She Wrote." 

Sondheim co-wrote "The Last of Sheila," which director Rian Johnson previously said was one of his favorite murder mysteries during a press conference at the London Film Festival, which Insider attended.

"Glass Onion" also appears to pay homage to some of that movie's plot points, such as a rich man inviting his friends to a remote sunny location to play games on their annual holiday. 

When we meet Benoit, he appears to be in a pandemic slump, unable to find new mysteries to solve. While playing "Among Us," Lyonne mentions how their group has tried other mystery games too, such as  "Codenames" and "Quipplash." 

Later in the film, Benoit criticizes the game "Clue," complaining that it's dumb.

This focus on different games and puzzles could highlight how Blanc was looking for a complicated answer to what turned out to be a simple mystery.

When Helen Brand, posing as her twin sister Andi (Janelle Monáe), accuses Miles of being the killer, Benoit immediately shoots it down, saying the tech leader wouldn't be dumb enough to kill someone he was public enemies with, despite that being exactly the case.

When the shot zooms out to show Benoit in his bathtub, the mystery puzzle book "Cain's Jawbone" is on the floor.

The book, which invites readers to figure out the right order of the story, foreshadows how the film won't be told in chronological order. There are numerous time jumps that weave through the movie.

When Duke dies halfway through the film, it's assumed that the character had been poisoned and that poison was meant for Miles. It is later revealed that Miles had killed the character by putting pineapple juice in his drink, which Duke is allergic to.

Duke mentions his allergy when he is given medicine to keep him safe from COVID-19 at the rendezvous point, saying "Duke don't dance with pineapple."

Miles became rich through the formation of his tech company Alpha. However, it's another Greek letter — Omega — that appears often throughout the movie.

It first appears on the boat that takes the group to Miles' island. It's also on a robe that Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn) wears as well as a pin on Lionel's dinner outfit.

Alpha and Omega often refer to the beginning and the end because they're the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. The inclusion of Omega could point to the film's themes of past and future with time jumps in addition to showing the dubious start to Miles' empire and how it could soon be coming to an end.

In "Knives Out," Joseph Gordon-Levitt has a secret cameo at the beginning of the movie. He voices Detective Hardrock, a character within an in-universe TV series that lead character Marta (Ana de Armas) watches. Since fans never see him on-screen, many did not realize the cameo even happened.

A similar cameo happens in "Glass Onion" as Gordon-Levitt voices the loud sound that occurs every hour on Miles' private island, which the tech leader calls the "hourly dong."

The main cast are the only humans on the island, except for a guy called Derol (Noah Segan) who occasionally pops up at random moments of the story. Miles explains in the beginning that Derol is having a hard time and is just crashing on the island for a bit.

However, Segan has already appeared in the first "Knives Out" film as Trooper Wagner, one of the cops investigating the movie's murder mystery.

Director Rian Johnson told Entertainment Weekly that Segan's cameos are there because the pair are long-time friends and collaborators.

"That's my friend Noah Segan, who's actually in the first movie as well," Johnson said. "We totally re-styled him. I think he's unrecognizable in this."

Johnson said that Derol is meant to be like Kato Kaelin, a minor witness in the 1995 OJ Simpson murder trial since he happened to be staying in the guest house on Simpson's estate on the night of the two murders.

"The notion of having a Kato Kaelin-type guy who's hanging out on the island, and to get Noah out there and hanging out with us in Greece — I'll never pass up that opportunity," Johnson said.

When Benoit arrives on the island, Miles tells him that he didn't actually invite him to his murder mystery weekend despite receiving the same invitation as everyone else. Miles allows Benoit to stay because he thinks it will be fun, but the detective warns him to not think lightly about the mistake.

"An anonymous invitation is not to be trifled with," Benoit says.

This is a callback to the first film when Benoit was hired to solve Harlan Thrombey's (Christoper Plummer) murder. It turns out Harlan's grandson Ransom (Chris Evans) hired Benoit anonymously, hoping to frame Harlan's nurse, Marta.

After his interrogation of Benoit, Miles comes to the conclusion that someone must have reset his game box and sent it to Blanc as a joke.

This interaction leaves hints that Miles didn't actually create the boxes since he didn't know how they worked or that they could even be reset.

Johnson leaves a clue to the whole mystery very early on when all the characters are by the pool. Duke jokes about the time he was riding his motorbike and Miles nearly "pancaked" him in his iconic blue porsche outside Andi's house.

Duke knew it was Miles because he recognized the car, which the billionaire loves so much that he bought a miniature version of it.

The comment goes unnoticed at first because the YouTuber makes it sound like it was a drunken mishap. Miles interrupts him, saying that Anderson Cooper throws wild house parties.

This throws the audience off the scent that Miles had anything to do with Andi's mysterious death, when in actuality, Duke is referencing how he saw his friend leaving the scene of the crime. 

Later in the film, it's revealed that Duke was a gamer when he first met Miles.

While a lot has changed since then, the character still has finger tattoos referencing his love for "Star Wars," "Superman" and "The Avengers." He also has a "Spectre" tattoo which refers to Bautista's previous role in the James Bond film.

Early in the movie, Benoit asks Miles what he means when he calls his collaborators "disruptors." Miles gives a long speech about how they are the only ones that "break things you're not supposed to break" and they can only make a difference by breaking the system entirely.

It's later revealed that their "disruption" is more akin to mistakes and they are the system, not the ones breaking it.

However, Helen becomes a true disruptor at the end of the movie by bringing Miles down.

While they're in the living room of the mansion, Benoit tries a bit of Jeremy Renner's special hot sauce, which Miles leaves in his room.

Miles tells Benoit to keep one as a gift and this comes in handy later when he used it as fake blood to make everyone else believe that "Andi" (Helen in disguise) had been killed.

When Miles reveals that he is keeping the real "Mona Lisa" painting in his mansion, he says that they forced him to put a sensor on the case that makes it close whenever there's a loud noise or a lot of heat. However, Miles said he installed an override button to re-open the case when this happens.

Helen later uses this to her advantage in the finale, causing the "Mona Lisa" to get destroyed in the Klear fire that consumes the mansion. By flouting the rules, Miles causes his own downfall.

Miles' Glass Onion mansion is a unique design, decorated with a variety of seemingly impressive items and artwork all serving the billionaire's ego. 

For example, he's so sure that Klear Hydrogen will be a success that he's already commissioned someone to make a light fixture in the shape of the fuel's solid form that Miles shows off to the group.

Miles is so convinced of its success, that he has a giant light in the main room that is actually in the shape of the fuel's rock-like state.

Johnson ramps up the foreshadowing when Miles starts lecturing the group about Klear Hydrogen and how it's going to be successful.

The group is in shock over the fuel and Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn) says backing it completely goes against her environmentalist campaign.

But it's Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom Jr.) who inadvertently teases Miles as the murderer, saying that Miles is "gonna get somebody killed."

While in the context of the scene he was referring to Klear's dangerous explosive properties, it's a neat way to forewarn the audience that Miles has already murdered someone and plans to strike again.

Although Miles brought his friends to the island to solve a murder mystery, the fictional story actually maps out a lot of what happens in the film.

First off, Miles has a packet of fake blood in his shirt to simulate being killed, which mirrors the hot sauce packet Benoit uses later on to make it look like Helen was shot on the stairs. 

Second, the solution to the "murder" is actually very simple, but it's filled with nonsensical layers to confuse the guests (and the audience).

Third, the answer to the mystery is hidden in plain sight. While the necklace containing the diamond is right in front of them during the meal, the napkin with the plans for the company is in Miles' office, hidden behind the false napkin.

And finally, Miles took credit for something he didn't create. He introduces the game by saying that he spent a lot of time crafting the plot, but later confesses that someone else wrote the whole thing. It's exactly how he took credit for Andi's hard work building Alpha and then stole the company out from under her.

Basically, Miles has no originality whatsoever.

Miles later admits he hired someone to write the weekend's murder mystery for the gang.

But he doesn't just hire any old ghost writer. Miles hired bestselling author Gillian Flynn to pen the fake mystery for the weekend.

The "Gone Girl" and "Sharp Objects" author writes in the suspense genre specializing in twists, so it was a nice little nod to include her.

Duke Cody explains he has Google alerts set up on his phone for things that he's interested in, like the word "movies." This leads him to see the news reports of Andi's death before anyone else, and he instantly realizes that Helen is masquerading as Andi on the island.

This also makes the YouTuber realize that Miles killed Andi because he saw him speeding away from the scene of the crime in the week before their trip to Greece.

Although Duke is careful not to show anyone else what he's seen, even hiding his phone from Birdie, he has no qualms about blackmailing Miles to help him elevate his brand online.

When it comes to Duke's death, the film deliberately toys with the audience. When Miles first comes over with the pineapple-laced whiskey, it shows the billionaire handing the glass to his friend. It's a subtle moment that seems inconsequential during a first watch.

Especially because when Miles explains himself, the misleading-mini flashback shows him putting the drink down, before Duke mistakes it for his own glass. 

It's a moment designed to trick everyone into thinking that Miles is telling the truth because he instantly has an excuse for why Duke drank the pineapple, and the visual evidence is enough to fool the audience.

Duke kept his pistol on his belt at all times, which mysteriously goes missing after his death. His phone disappears, too. 

Although we don't see Miles stash the gun out of sight, eagle-eyed viewers can see Duke's phone sticking out of his pocket when he runs away from the rest of the guests, screaming that someone is out to get him. This is all a ruse to hide the fact that he's the killer.

It's easy to miss because it's a fast-paced scene, but it's a very clear indication that he stole the phone (and probably muted those irritating Google alert notifications).

One of the film's biggest twists is that Benoit has been helping Helen pretend to be her murdered twin sister, Andi. He's known her identity the whole time because she was the one who hired him.

Their surprising partnership quickly becomes one of the most fun aspects of the movie as they work together to try to discover the truth of Andi's death.

But during the blackout, Benoit momentarily forgets that they're trying to keep up appearances when he finds Helen by the staircase. He calls her by her real name rather than her sister's.

Helen and Benoit definitely have one of the most fun dynamics in the whole film as they try and peel back all the layers in the mystery.

And Helen is quick to make a list of suspects in her sister's notebook, with a grid of "Motive" and "Opportunity" so that she can tick each person's name if they had reason to kill her sister.

But the director smartly leaves a blink-and-you'll-miss-it clue in the notebook that Miles is the killer.

Helen writes Miles' name next to "Motive" and "Opportunity" rather than below the line on the page, likely a hint that his motive and opportunity supersedes everyone else's.

The guests are (understandbly) upset when Duke dies, especially when they realize the YouTuber's gun is missing as well as one of the steak knives from the kitchen.

The knife reappears later on when Birdie returns to the room. She immediately drops it when she sees everyone, clearly in anticipation of being accused of murder. 

The knife was just for her own protection, but at least Johnson gives audiences an answer as to where it went.

During the flashback scene where he and Andi fall out over Klear Hydrogen and the direction of their company, it's very obvious that Miles is trying to emulate another successful billionaire businessman. 

He's dressed in Steve Jobs' signature look: a black turtleneck and blue jeans, a likely nod not only to his desire to be viewed as a visionary, but another example of him being unoriginal.

"Glass Onion" is packed with surprising cameos, like "Murder, She Wrote" star Angela Lansbury and British star Hugh Grant, but one of the funniest appearances comes from star tennis player, Serena Williams.

When Benoit and Andi/Helen are running around the island, they duck into the gym to chat, where they realize that Serena Williams is on a video call as Miles' personal trainer waiting for him to show up. While waiting, she's reading a book called "Gravity's Rainbow."

Benoit references the book in "Knives Out" to Marta (Ana de Armas), joking that no one has actually ever read it. The 1973 book, about the aftermath of World War II, is incredibly lengthy at 760 pages.

Johnson explained the joke to SFGate back in 2019. 

"I've read it twice now all the way through," he said. "I also just keep it around and will flip open to random spots and start reading. But I've kind of stopped recommending it to people. It's hard to recommend it without feeling like an asshole, because you're handing them a mountain to climb."

Benoit and Helen/Andi discover an envelope with the real napkin behind Miles' framed fake napkin.

He used the fake napkin in the trial to make it look like he was the one who came up with the idea for the company, usurping Andi out of her share of the money.

But the discovery calls back to Benoit's speech about the truth being hidden under a pile of lies: The truth was, in fact, hidden in plain sight all along. The red envelope can be seen through the frame's Fibonacci sequence design.

The finale of the film revolves around the fact that Miles kept Andi's envelope that has the original napkin from the bar where they jotted down their ideas for the now-successful company. 

This would've been the smoking gun in the court case that Andi raised against Miles for ousting her from the company. When the gang realizes he still has it, Lionel berates him for not destroying it. "You didn't burn the envelope," he exclaims.

Later on, Miles does exactly that. After being exposed with the real napkin, Miles seizes it and burns it.

The Beatles song "Glass Onion" plays over the film's credits sequence, a nod to the movie's title.

Johnson previously told Deadline that he'd had the idea for a billionaire living in a glass mansion and just searched for a song with the word "glass" in the title.

"I literally opened the music app on my phone and just searched the word 'glass,' and 'Glass Onion' popped up," he said.

"But I was always surprised, when I was showing the script around, how many people didn't know it was a Beatles song," he continued. "I thought everybody knew 'Glass Onion,' but I guess they don't."

The song is on "The White Album," and references a number of other classic tracks by the British band, including "Strawberry Fields Forever," and "I am the Walrus."

The Glass Onion metaphor gets spoken about a lot in the film for all the layers built into Miles' mansion, with its twisting corridors, numerous rooms, and hidden secrets.

But it also could serve as a reference to the film itself.

The plot has so many different layers, with multiple suspects all with their own motives, secrets, and ways their lives and careers overlap.