History AlternativeCharacterInterpretation / GlassOnion

** Or maybe it is more what it says about Duke. Claire calls him right wing sexist influencer she shouldn't be photographed or recorded with, because it would ruin her (green energy and social causes based) political career and his "breastification of America" video and using Whiskey as a prop in it seems to point that way. Andi is outspoken, well-educated and successful Afro-American businesswoman. It could be deep disagreement about politics and personality clash. It is possible there were many discussions in which Andi unsuccessfully attempted to convince Duke to stop saying or doing something in his videos because it is sexist, racist or both.

*** The idea that she could have done it herself is kind of a stretch : [[spoiler:it's pretty clear that Andy is self-made, but multiple people have speculated that Miles already came from money. That would mean that he has connections that NouveauRiche Andy doesn't (and also would explain why he was prepared to screw her over in a legal battle). Also, we don't know that Andy wasn't helping them between the time she became rich and the trial. She didn't intervened to help Birdie and Duke, but we don't know when those incidents took place (and they were both pretty distastful, Andy would be justified to feel like they earned their time-out). As for Lionel and Claire, she could have been helping them, and they could have just chosen to side with Miles because he was the most likely winner of the trial.]]

*** The idea that she could have done it herself is kind of a stretch [[spoiler:it's pretty clear that Andy is self-made, but multiple people have speculated that Miles already came from money. That would mean that he has connections that [NouveauRiche] Andy doesn't (and also would explain why he was prepared to screw her over in a leagle battle). Also, we don't know that Andy wasn't helping them before the trial : it could just have been that they considered Miles the likely winner and sided with him for that]]

*** The idea that she could have done it herself is kind of a stretch [[it's pretty clear that Andy is self-made, but multiple people have speculated that Miles already came from money. That would mean that he has connections that [[NouveauRiche]] Andy doesn't (and also would explain why he was prepared to screw her over in a leagle battle). Also, we don't know that Andy wasn't helping them before the trial : it could just have been that they considered Miles the likely winner and sided with him for that]]

** [[spoiler:Birdie's shares are *currently* valued at $30,000,000. The film implies that Miles is going to pay Birdie *after* she takes the fall, at which point the price of the stock will have cratered.]]

** [[spoiler:Birdie's shares are currently valued at $30,000,000. The film implies that Miles is going to pay Birdie after she takes the fall, at which point the price of the stock will have cratered.]]

** [[spoiler:Birdie's shares are <i>currently</i> valued at $30,000,000. The film implies that Miles is going to pay Birdie <i>after</i> she takes the fall, at which point the price of the stock will have cratered.]]

*** Sounds a fair bit more like the latter. He only mentions "what I will leave the world" in passing--when discussing his goals for the future and his hopes for Klear. He never says anything like "I want future generations to have a livable planet" or "I want to reduce conflict in the world by getting us out from under the thumb of petro-states". No, it's all about HIS legacy, HIS genius, HIM creating something that's mentioned in the same breath as the ''Art/MonaLisa''. Plus, if he'd had even a shred of altruism, he wouldn't have been so determined to press ahead with it after finding out its limits and dangers.

** Sounds a fair bit more like the latter. He only mentions "what I will leave the world" in passing--when discussing his goals for the future and his hopes for Klear. He never says anything like "I want future generations to have a livable planet" or "I want to reduce conflict in the world by getting us out from under the thumb of petro-states". No, it's all about HIS legacy, HIS genius, HIM creating something that's mentioned in the same breath as the ''Art/MonaLisa''. Plus, if he'd had even a shred of altruism, he wouldn't have been so determined to press ahead with it after finding out its limits and dangers.
** Related to the above, a relatively minor point all things considered, but why would a truly environmentally conscious billionaire even have disposable Solo cups lying around for "the help" to drink from? Single-use tableware is one of the most notorious examples of needless pollution.

** Sounds a fair bit more like the latter. He only mentions "what I will leave the world" in passing--when discussing his goals for the future and his hopes for Klear. He never says anything like "I want future generations to have a livable planet" or "I want to reduce conflict in the world by getting us out from under the thumb of petro-states". No, it's all about HIS legacy, HIS genius, HIM creating something that's mentioned in the same breath as the Mona Lisa. Plus, if he'd had even a shred of altruism, he wouldn't have been so determined to press ahead with it after finding out its limits and dangers.

** Given they're [[spoiler: opening themselves up to perjury charges for having lied in the original trial, they're at least prepared to ''risk'' reprisals, though it's uncertain if that's out of respect to Andi's memory or simply spite towards Miles.]]

** [[spoiler: Their careers were already over. Birdie was going to be thrown under the bus, while Lionel and Claire were doomed by supporting Klear, as they stated during the movie. However, Miles was just too powerful for them to go against him, and so far they had never seen him getting any kind of payback for his mistakes. Likely leading them to believe he would have wiggled his way out yet another time, taking them with him. However, the party shatters their illusion three times: first with Blanc calling Miles an idiot to his face, then with Helen defiantly breaking his stuff, reaching the point to actually annoy him (and also, when they join, they have the first taste of how they ''can'' go against him if they actually want to), and last when Helen blows up his house and destroys the Mona Lisa. At that point, they realize that the scandal will be too big and Bron loses his only leverage, leading them to leave his side. How much is them trying to regain some sort of morality and how much convenience is irrelevant, the point is that no one had any actual affection for Miles. While Helen could face accusations of vandalism, it's a little thing in exchange for getting payback for the death of her sister, and that still wouldn't help Miles: Klear is still something that risks untold injuries and deaths and no one will want it once they know that, and the Mona Lisa was under ''his'' custody, and it was his responsibility to keep it safe, which he failed at despite his love for the work, which will ruin his reputation. The fact that it happened because he nonchalantly showed how to deactivate the security measures would make it worse, particularly since he showed it to two complete strangers as well.]]

* How trustworthy is the antiviral given to the guests supposed to be? No one questions it, but everyone there wants to stay in Miles' good graces and get to the island. The movie itself seemingly wants to paint it in a shady light, not giving any technobabble to explain it, only asking the characters to just obey in good faith, and noticeably, the time the guests are supposed to spend on the island is too short for them to manifest the first symptoms should they end up catching the virus. More than a simple hand wave, it seems a first clue of Miles' true colors (and relationship with the other characters). [[spoiler: Benoit Blanc also immediately puts his mask back on after the shot, and only takes it off for good when he has to start his ruse pretending to be impressed by Miles, showing he doesn't really trust the stuff.]]

** [[spoiler:Why was Miles always the one who helped out the other Disruptors instead of her? Especially since his help largely amounted to directing money at the right places, something she could have just as easily done. Did Miles just get around to it first? Did Andi come to agree with Helen that they were shitheads who didn't deserve it? Or did she just want to keep all her money to herself?]]

* The movie portrays Duke as a hypocrite for promoting a toxic right-wing view of masculinity while also being dominated by his mother. Except his mother is physically abusive towards him, openly slapping Duke in the face for talking back to her, [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale something that the movie plays for laughs]]. While Ma Cody's behaviour towards her son could be interpreted as her refusing to take disrespect from a {{Manchild}} son that [[BasementDweller still lives with her despite being in his fifties,]] there is a possibility that the way she treats her son may not be a recent development. If the latter is the case, [[FreudianExcuse it would potentially explain a ''lot'' of Duke's maladaptive personality traits.]]

* The movie portrays Duke as a hypocrite for presenting a toxic right-wing view of masculinity and also being dominated by his mother. Except his mother is physically abusive. And [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale it's played for laughs]]. She also doesn't seem to respect or even be ''polite'' to him on the most basic level, even though he (and maybe Miles' money) presumably bought the fancy house they're in. If she abused him as a child, that would explain a ''lot'' about his character and maladaptive personality traits. It could also mean she ''deliberately'' disrupts his recording to assert dominance and control, even though he "told [her] a million times" not to. Same with the box puzzle-solving. It's doubtful [[UnfortunateImplications this is actually the intended point]].

** [[spoiler: There are hints that he comes from money, which would explain his ability to prop up his "disruptors" using money rather than wits.]]
** [[spoiler: While Miles might not live up to Blanc's standards as a murderer, two things are undeniable: he is great at spotting opportunities, and he is decisive and absolutely ruthless in seizing said opportunities, to the point of recklessness. Stupid or not, this makes him extremely dangerous as a would-be murderer, and apparently as a businessman as well.]]

** That's literally the point of the movie. Miles has some skills, [[spoiler: but they are mostly all about taking advantage of other people's work and having the money to never have to face consequences. But when you listen closely to the Disruptors' stories, he didn't really achieve anything on his own: he was a bad businessman, and didn't even find the Disruptors by himself, ''Andi'' introduced him to the group. While things started taking off after his arrival, it's actually because he had the money and connections the other needed for their initial start, both things he was born with and did not earn on his own. This also comes with the caveat of all of them having to become worse people to lower themselves to his standards (which is why he managed to get the company: while Andi was busy trying to make something actually meaningful out of it, he just used his massive resources to have his lawyers give him total control of it). After that, his whole role is taking credit for the work he did not put in, and no one having the guts to stand up to him. Even that is not some clever ploy, just him never conceiving of the idea that someone might be able to contradict him, as we are shown multiple times during the climax. Even the fact that the others underestimate how dangerous he is by assuming he would never be as brainless and inconsiderate as he is is something he is unable to take advantage of. He only makes it as far as he does by the fact that people would rather convince themselves he is a genius than admit that the system is so broken that a complete idiot could climb that high (or, worse, that he would only climb that high ''because'' he is an idiot), and would rather believe he must have ''something'' more than them. As shown by Blanc, all it takes is someone willing to admit having been fooled by an idiot to see behind the facade and leave it to crumble.]]

! Andi

! Other

* Miles' shocked reaction when seeing the glass on the floor, before pointing it out to the others. [[spoiler: Was it part of the ruse, or is it that, due to the improvised nature of the plan he was only then realizing that his name was on the glass and he needed to pretend to be the designated victim?]]

* Miles Bron. [[spoiler:He is ''definitely'' not as smart as he pretends to be, and certainly steals credit for other people's ideas, but is he really an "idiot", as Blanc disdainfully calls him? "Poisoning" Duke by taking advantage of his allergies may have been lacking a certain elegance in Blanc's eyes, but it ''worked'', and his lie to cover it up even fooled Blanc for a while. And according to Andi's diaries, he did successfully obtain success for the other four Disruptors they couldn't have accomplished on their own, and did it before Alpha was founded, though ''how'' he did that goes unexplained. He could be interpreted as a rather cunning grifter.]]

* Did Andi [[spoiler:let Miles into the group to use his implied pre-existing wealth and connections to boost her and her friends' careers? Or did she once truly like, perhaps even love, him and believe in him and his vision?]]
** A deleted scene would have suggested the latter.

* Just how intelligent was [[spoiler:Andi compared to the other Disrupters? It's clear she was the true brains behind Alpha, and Helen has nothing but good things to say about her, but there are signs that point to her being as foolish as her friends. Her willingness to split Alpha, leaving Miles unchecked even had she won the court case, her inability to locate a napkin sticking out of a book in her house over the course of the trial, the absolutely braindead decision to broadcast the discovery of said napkin to people who would only suffer from its exposure, and letting Miles into her house after said broadcasting all point to a woman who was much more book smart than streetwise.]]