Rian Johnson, the writer and director of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, has revealed he was originally opposed to the film’s big twist.
The film, a sequel to the 2019 murder mystery Knives Out, starred Daniel Craig as ace detective Benoit Blanc, Edward Norton as tech billionaire Miles Bron, and Janelle Monáe as Andi Brand, Bron’s former business partner.
Released on Netflix around Christmas, Glass Onion also starred Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr, Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista.
Spoilers follow for Glass Onion – you have been warned!
Halfway through the film, it’s revealed that Andi was, in fact, dead the whole time, and the woman assumed to be her is in fact her twin sister, Helen.
In an extended flashback, we are shown what happened: after suspecting foul play in her sister’s death, Helen sought the help of Blanc, who convinced her to impersonate Andi on the trip to Miles Bron’s island.
Speaking to The Wrap, Johnson discussed his initial reluctance to go forward with the plotline.
“I guess the primary thing was, it can’t just be seeing it from a different angle,” he said.
“It has to be enough of a basic perspective shift that there’s a new tension that’s introduced in the repeat of all the different scenes,” he said. “This is what led to the idea of twins. By the process, I was dragged kicking and screaming to identical twins. I didn’t want to do it, it seemed like a horrible trope. [I thought:] ‘Will the audience ever forgive me for this?’”
“I think we get away with it because it’s not like a reveal at the end,” the filmmaker added. “It’s a complication in the middle that leads to a deepening of the stakes and the story.”
Glass Onion is available to stream on Netflix now.
