“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” is the third and final film in the “Knives Out” series. The reason for this is the end of the $450 million deal between Netflix and Rian Johnson, who says he really wants to do something completely different again. But at the same time, the author and director revealed that he could easily imagine returning to another part of the crime series with Daniel Craig as the brilliant investigator Benoit Blanc in his career. “Wake Up Dead Man”, which will be shown exclusively in cinemas for a good two weeks before Netflix launches on December 12, 2025, proves that this is a really good idea. Because Johnson avoids repeating himself with a fresh setting and a new look at his detective.
Johnson remembers even more than in his predecessors that Craig's Blanc is not the sole protagonist of these films, but that there is always another character that we root for. In addition, in contrast to the second part “Glass Onion”, it makes it possible to puzzle along fairly right from the start, but still manages to surprise with twists. Together with some interesting topics that are touched on in the course of the film, these are actually the ingredients to make “Wake Up Dead Man” the best part of the series – which is only prevented by a few somewhat awkward scenes and short lengths. Part 3 can definitely claim to be the funniest film in the franchise…
Investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is more than ever just a supporting character – the focus of the entire film is not Josh O'Connor (right)
After breaking a colleague's jaw in an argument, young priest Jud Duplenticy (Josh O‛Connor) is transferred to the small community of Chimney Rock as a punishment. Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) rules there with an iron hand and has driven out almost all of the believers. Only a small group still hangs on his lips, frightened, awestruck and worshiping him like a cult leader. For Jud, the months under Wicks become hell. But with his strong faith behind him, the ex-boxer hopes to bring about change – until Wicks is suddenly dead after one of his famous hate sermons on Good Friday. It seems an impossible crime – because after the sermon, Wicks went from the pulpit for a short rest into a small side room without another door, where someone stabbed him from behind just a few seconds later.
Even though she can't explain how it happened, the local police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) still thinks Jud is the perpetrator. He has a violent history, a motive and was at least in close proximity to the crime scene – even if he couldn't have entered it unseen by the rest of the community. To find out how everything happened, she asks Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) for help. He goes straight after Jud, but eventually recruits him as a helper and has him explain who else from Wicks' community was there: the housekeeper Martha (Glenn Close), the caretaker Samson (Thomas Haden Church), the lawyer Vera (Kerry Washington), the right-wing political influencer Cy (Daryl McCormack), the embittered doctor Dr. Nat (Jeremy Renner), the wheelchair-bound star musician Simone (Cailee Spaeny) and the former best-selling author Lee (Andrew Scott), who is now a believer in conspiracy stories. Did one of them commit the perfect, supposedly impossible murder? Or were other forces at work there and the convinced atheist Blanc is being tested here in his unshakable disbelief?
The real protagonist is not the detective
Rian Johnson's Knives Out films are so compelling because Benoit Blanc isn't the main character. The quirky investigator with the southern accent and brilliant powers of observation is so removed from the normal world that he is of little use as an identification figure. We want to puzzle along and even have the incentive to find the solution before or at least with him, but we don't share in the excitement and suffering with him. After Ana de Armas and Janelle Monáe in the previous films, this time Josh O'Connor takes on the role of the character for whom the audience is supposed to keep their fingers crossed, even though he could possibly be the murderer. “Wake Up Dead Man” puts him even more consistently in the spotlight.
Apart from a mini-appearance right at the beginning, Daniel Craig isn't seen at all for a long time. Instead, we follow “Challengers” star O'Connor through his tough nine months in a community that is hostile to him. Little by little he checks out all the other suspects so that we get to know their stories. Week after week, the young priest hears his colleague Wicks' confession in order to have him tell him how often, where and with what technique he masturbated. This introduction is a bit long and, with the constant voice-over, doesn't rely enough on the actually immense visual narrative power of this film, which is excellently illustrated with gothic horror influences. But at the same time, it's all so funny that it hardly matters how long it takes until the murder actually happens and Blanc finally enters the picture.
Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) delivers one of his infamous hate sermons – before becoming the victim of a seemingly impossible murder.
And even after his first appearance, the detective only plays second fiddle and “Wake Up Dead Man” remains for long stretches the film of Josh O'Connor, whose young priest firmly believes in God, but is increasingly convinced that he has taken on immense guilt. Johnson repeatedly underlines the distribution of roles visually. Craig literally steps into the background and leaves the stage to O‛Connor. Detective Blanc repeatedly retreats into an observer role and just wants to see whether the young priest reveals something new or teases something new out of the others. He even leaves some of the investigation to the young man, whose visible neck tattoo testifies to his rough past.
This also gives “Wake Up Dead Man” (the title is based on a U2 song) a different focus than its predecessors. The crime plot deliberately stalls again and again. Jud is very close to a very important clue, but gives up on getting any information because the witness needs his support as a spiritual counselor – and he provides this for several hours, to Blanc's visible annoyance.
Faith, doubt – and the perfect murder
Johnson skillfully weaves spiritual themes and a discussion about faith into his crime plot, which is of course peppered with political asides. At times the third “Knives Out” drags a little because of these secondary threads because the actual mystery is not advanced. But that hardly does any harm, because there is always the next clue and another clue in time.
Johnson uses the whodunit mechanics perfectly here. After “Glass Onion” only revealed an important piece of information that Blanc already knew in a big twist about halfway through the film, we are on the same page as the investigator and can discover for ourselves what he sees. It's so much fun to puzzle along – the actual solution will still surprise many people and is prepared by some wonderful twists that are not just pulled out of a hat, but fit well into the plot.
“Django Unchained” star Kerry Washington and Hollywood legend Glenn Close (“A Disastrous Affair”) are also in the third “Knives Out” film.
By the way, it's no coincidence that we haven't revealed a word about the once again prominent ensemble outside of the synopsis. “Wake Up Dead Man” is so focused on Josh O'Connor that even a legend like Glenn Close stands in his shadow. The interrogation scenes that are otherwise typical of the genre, in which the detective gradually questions each person, are even completely missing. Nevertheless, the stars mostly get their scenes to shine, which they use in a variety of ways. While some – especially Brolin and Close – do this in a very expressive way, others score points with reserved individual moments. Surprisingly, Jeffrey Wright (“The Batman”) turns out to be a scene-stealer in his mini-appearance with his dry humor. And of course, Rian Johnson fans can once again pay close attention to where his buddies Noah Segan and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who are present in every film, can be seen (or heard).
Conclusion: Rian Johnson proves with “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” that even after two celebrated predecessors, new paths can still be found for Benoit Blanc. One of the ways he succeeds is that his dark, but at the same time incredibly funny and sensational looking crime thriller is this time particularly strongly supported by a single character – and that is not Blanc, but a priest under suspicion of murder, played excellently by Josh O'Connor.