Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery has released its first trailer, potentially revealing the Knives Out 2 killer's motivations for murder in the process. The sequel, again written and directed by Rian Johnson, will tell an entirely unconnected story to the first film, with the only returning aspect being Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc. However, much like the first Knives Out, the sequel will follow the tropes of murder mysteries by taking place in a confined location with a murder to solve, something that the trailer may have just revealed some information about.
In the trailer, all the central characters are revealed. The cast is made up of an A-list roster, much like the first film, with the likes of Janelle Monáe, Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Kathryn Hahn, Madeline Clyne, Leslie Odom Jr., and Jessica Henwick ing the Knives Out sequel and Daniel Craig for a bout of murder mystery mayhem. While the film is bound to have many twists and turns, again like its predecessor, the trailer for Glass Onion contains some hints about potential motivations for the central murder of the film.
At around the 35-second mark of the trailer for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, a shot focusing on the central cast reveals a potential source of motivation. In the background of the shot, the Mona Lisa is visible in a glass case - a decidedly notable detail, presenting some possible incentives. If indeed the painting shown in the trailer is the real Mona Lisa - as it is placed within a glass safe, which a fake wouldn't need to be - the main motive for the Knives Out 2 killer could be simply linked to money and wanting to steal or sell the Mona Lisa, much in the same vein of the original mystery being motivated by money. However, given the Mona Lisa famously resides in the Louvre, a far more interesting motivation arises from the idea the painting is a fake. At the end of the Knives Out 2 trailer, Dave Bautista's character asks when the murder mystery starts. Given this detail, the puzzles littered throughout the trailer, the prop Mona Lisa being in a glass case despite presumably being a fake, and Blanc's monologue containing phrases like "ladies and gentlemen... you expected a mystery... for one person on this island, this is not a game," the premise of the plot is suggested to potentially be that these characters are brought together to role-play at some form of murder mystery party. If this is the case, the killer could be motivated to murder in order to make the fake murder mystery party real, leading to Blanc's investigation.
Why Glass Onion May Copy An Original Knives Out Twist
However, this set up in the trailer may be an intentional loose end, with the Knives Out 2 murder reveal instead mirroring a twist from the original Knives Out. In the first film, after Harlan wrongly assumed that Martha injected him with a lethal dose of morphine, he kills himself, leading to the initial investigation. Despite Chris Evans' sweater-donning character, Hugh Ransom Drysdale, being ultimately responsible for this crime, the protagonist Fran - and the viewer - spend the majority of the movie believing otherwise, leading to Fran and Harlan setting up what is essentially a murder mystery by covering her tracks in order to protect Fran from potential legal ramifications. Glass Onion could mirror this approach, especially if the premise is already set at a murder mystery role play, allowing the movie to explore the same meta narrative that its predecessor did by having the victim (deceased or otherwise) potentially have orchestrated their own murder mystery.
Whether the killer is driven by money - like in the first movie with Chris Evans' character - revenge, or any of the other typical murder mystery incentives found throughout the genre, Knives Out 2 is sure to surprise audiences with some suitable twists and turns. Regardless, the trailer for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery certainly gives some hints at possible routes the film could go. While certainly another trailer for the film will be released in the coming months, audiences will have to wait to find out the real motivation for murder in Rian Johnson's Knives Out sequel until the film releases in the final months of 2022.
