🤐 SPOILER ALERT 🤐

It should come as no surprise, but Janelle Monáe knows how to make an entrance. And her dramatic arrival on a dock in Greece as Cassandra “Andi” Brand in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery literally stops the other characters in their tracks. Partly, that’s because she’s not really supposed to be there. But partly because, well, she’s Janelle Monáe.

Daniel Craig and Janelle Monáe On Their Glass Onion CostumesThe two actors break down their favorite costumes from Glass Onion.

As the former business partner of billionaire tech titan Miles Bron (Edward Norton), she and his group of “disruptors” aren’t exactly on speaking terms, and her presence is a sign that something might be off with this whole private island getaway he’s planned. Plus, who could avoid staring at anyone wearing such a fabulous maxi dress? “I wanted to establish very quickly who Andi was, which is this incredibly smart, powerful woman,” costume designer Jenny Eagan tells Tudum.

To achieve that, Eagan went for designs with “sharp lines and really simple cuts.” But even as you drool over the actor’s white cocktail-hour suit, be sure to catch the symbolism concealed within Andi’s looks. They’re hiding in plain sight. “It’s all about geometrical shapes with her, and circles,” says Eagan. “You see the circle purse and the circle in the hotel room. Circle rings. There’s circles in almost everything she has.”

Why? Well, this is where the spoilers come in, so we’re warning you for the last time: Look away now!

Andi’s last-minute appearance is especially surprising for at least one person on this idyllic vacation. After all, dead people don’t usually get dressed up for a jet-set jaunt on the Aegean. As detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) reveals during the film’s giddy twist, Andi was actually murdered by someone in the party gathered within Bron’s Glass Onion atrium. The person they’ve all believed to be Andi is actually… Helen Brand, her twin sister, who is also played by Monáe. After hiring Blanc to investigate her sister’s death, Helen posed as Andi in order to help him gather clues from the group. In that moment, everything comes full circle — hence, Eagan’s penchant for geometric shapes. And if you pay attention, you’ll start seeing circles everywhere: her belt as she walks to the pool, her oversized sunglasses, the red swirl pattern on the bottom of her dress. It all points to the truth.

The funny thing is that Andi’s style isn’t even really her own. It’s what Helen believes Andi would wear. “I’m sure she went into her closet and said, ‘Oh, she would definitely wear this and wear that,’ trying to be her sister,” Eagan says. “She looks up to her. But at the same time, there’s just such class and such beauty to [Helen’s] character, and the strength in her.”

Eagan worked closely with Monáe — a style icon in her own right — to build both of her characters’ looks, from Andi’s sleek corporate image to Helen’s laid-back Alabama teacher sweaters. “She was one of the more fun ones,” Eagan says. “Janelle is so creative, has such amazing style and she’s so elaborate. I was nervous, but she was so open and knew exactly what this character needed to be.”

For her part, Monáe told Netflix, “It was such an honor to work with Jenny. She has great taste and she gave me a lot to play with. We knew that Andi had to have taste. We wanted to make sure that when you saw her, you were like, ‘Ooh, I want her closet!’ ”

That enthusiasm and willingness to collaborate, Eagan stresses, is the special sauce that makes the whole movie so delicious. “It’s the greatest gift for a costume designer,” she says. “Because without the cast’s energy and their excitement and their joy, the costumes in this film wouldn’t be as alive as they are.”

Now, about that closet…

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is streaming on Netflix now.

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