The movie stars Daniel Craig reprising his role as master detective Benoit Blanc as he takes on a new case revolving around tech billionaire Miles Bron (played by Edward Norton) and his closest friends.

The ensemble cast also includes Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista.

Following its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2022, Glass Onion began a one-week limited theatrical release on November 23, 2022, receiving the widest theatrical release ever for a Netflix film and grossing $15 million; Netflix began streaming it on December 23.

Like its predecessor, Glass Onion received critical acclaim, with reviewers praising Johnson's screenplay and direction, the performances of the cast, and the musical score.

[3] During the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020, Miles Bron, the co-founder of technology company Alpha, hosts a murder mystery game at the Glass Onion, his mansion on a private island in Greece.

He invites his friend group, the "Disruptors": Alpha head scientist Lionel Toussaint, Connecticut governor Claire Debella, controversial model-turned-fashion designer Birdie Jay, men's rights streamer Duke Cody, and Alpha co-founder Cassandra "Andi" Brand, who is estranged from Miles.

Miles also reveals that the mansion is powered by "Klear", a hydrogen-based alternative fuel that Alpha will soon sell, despite Lionel and Claire's knowledge that it is dangerous.

Helen lights a bonfire and throws a piece of Klear that Blanc had given her into the fire, causing an explosion that destroys the mansion and the Mona Lisa.

Additionally, Ethan Hawke appears briefly as Miles's assistant (credited as "Efficient Man"),[19][20][21] Hugh Grant cameos as Phillip, Blanc's domestic partner,[19] and Joseph Gordon-Levitt voices Miles's clock, the Hourly Dong (Gordon-Levitt had a vocal cameo in the previous film as Detective Hardrock).

[22] Several celebrities make cameo appearances as themselves, including Stephen Sondheim,[23] Angela Lansbury,[23] Natasha Lyonne,[24] Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,[25][26] Yo-Yo Ma,[24] Jake Tapper, and Serena Williams.

[29][30] Before its release, writer and director Rian Johnson had teased the possibility of a sequel revolving around the lead character, Detective Benoit Blanc.

[38] Johnson made it clear that Glass Onion was not a continuation of its predecessor but a standalone film featuring a new story and cast, similar to the Hercule Poirot novel series by Agatha Christie.

[43][44] Returning Knives Out crew members included cinematographer Steve Yedlin, editor Bob Ducsay, and composer Nathan Johnson.

[51] Other songs featured in the film include "To Love Somebody" by the Bee Gees; "Star" and "Starman" by David Bowie; "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by Toots and The Maytals; and "Mona Lisa" by Nat King Cole.

[38][55] While he said he understood the need for audiences to understand that Glass Onion was part of a series, he felt that "the whole appeal to me is it's a new novel off the shelf every time", and that there is an industry trend with "the gravity of a thousand suns toward serialized storytelling".

Deadline also reported that some smaller exhibitors that were interested in playing the film were shut out from the one-week limited release, as Netflix preferred more popular theaters for Glass Onion.

[68] In the United States and Canada, Glass Onion was released alongside Strange World, Devotion, Bones and All and The Fabelmans, and was initially projected to gross around $6–8 million from 698 theaters over its five-day opening weekend.

The website's consensus reads: "Glass Onion brings back Benoit Blanc for another wildly entertaining mystery rounded out by an outstanding ensemble cast.

[20] Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, writing: "The clever details, amusing name-drops, and precisely pointed digs at vapid celebrity culture keep Johnson's movie zippy when it threatens to drag.

"[74] Writing for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and said: "Glass Onion is never anything less than entertaining, with its succession of A-lister and A-plus-lister cameos popping up all over the place.

And Johnson uncorks an absolute showstopper of a flashback a half-hour or so into the action, which then unspools back up to the present day, giving us all manner of cheeky POV-shift reveals.

Calder McHugh of Politico described the film as "an allegory for all of us living with the omnipresent Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and Jeff Bezos",[76] while James Downie of MSNBC claimed Norton's character Miles Bron's "mixture of bluster, hubris, and half-baked ideas will likely bring to mind Twitter owner and part-time car enthusiast Elon Musk.

"[77] Of the film's relevance to Elon Musk's recent takeover of Twitter, Rian Johnson commented, "A friend of mine said, 'Man, that feels like it was written this afternoon.'

"[78] Shirley Li of The Atlantic praised the film for "observing the absurd privileges of wealth and skewering the ignorance of the 1 percent" such as in the "overflowing smarm" of Edward Norton's performance as Miles Bron.

[80] Glass Onion explores themes like wealth inequality, the impact of technology, the influence of powerful personalities, and even sewage management in today's world.

[81] In interviews about the film, director Rian Johnson, producer Ram Bergman, and the actors shared their thoughts on these themes, suggesting different ways to interpret the story.

[83] He believes that mystery stories are great for looking at power and influence, much like Agatha Christie's books, which reflect her keen observation of society.

[94] In October 2023, Johnson spoke further about the progress of Knives Out 3 in TheWrap: "I obviously couldn't work during the Writers Guild of America strike, and now that it's over, I'm diving in full force, and so it's coming along.

[93][96][97][98][99][100][101][102] Similarly to how the first two films in the series were named after songs, Wake Up Dead Man shares the same title as the closing track of U2's 1997 album Pop.