Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Cast View all

	Daniel Craig	Benoit Blanc
	Josh O'Connor	Fr. Jud Duplenticy
	Glenn Close	Martha Delacroix
	Josh Brolin	Mons. Jefferson Wicks
	Mila Kunis	Chief Geraldine Scott
	Jeremy Renner	Dr. Nat Sharp
	Kerry Washington	Vera Draven / Esq.
	Andrew Scott	Lee Ross
	Cailee Spaeny	Simone Vivane
	Daryl McCormack	Cy Draven
	Thomas Haden Church	Samson Holt
	Jeffrey Wright	Bp. Langstrom
	Annie Hamilton	Grace Wicks
	James Faulkner	Rev. Prentice Wicks
	Bridget Everett	Louise
	Noah Segan	Nikolai
	Jamie Karitzis	Geraldine's Deputy
	Kit Burden	Dcn. Clark
	Gavin Spokes	Rev. Frank
	Paul Hilton	Rev. Delancy
	Joseph Gordon-Levitt	Baseball Announcer
	Cecilia Blair	Young Martha
	Georgie Drain	Young Wick
	Bertie Drain	Young Wick
	Leo Abelo Perry	Young Cy

Crew View all

Director	Rian Johnson
Writer	Rian Johnson
Producer	Ram Bergman, Adele Franck, Richard Goodwin, Leopold Hughes, Rian Johnson, Nikos Karamigios, Tom Karnowski
Musician	Nathan Johnson
Photography	Steve Yedlin

Trailer

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Notes

My quick rating - 6.9/10. There’s something oddly comforting about returning to a Knives Out Mystery, like being handed a beautifully wrapped puzzle box and immediately shaking it to see what falls loose. This time, though, Wake Up Dead Man is still polished and expensive-looking, but a few of the pieces feel like they wandered in from a much less interesting game.

The setup wastes no time being…I'd call it memorable. We meet young priest Jud Duplenticy, played by Josh O'Connor, by way of him decking another priest because nothing says “man of God” like opening with a right hook. He’s then shipped off to assist Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, a charismatic, slightly unhinged figure brought to life by Josh Brolin, who delivers a masturbation confession that goes on so long you start wondering if the real crime is how much screen time it eats up.

From there, the film assembles its usual “everyone’s a suspect” lineup… except this time, they kind of aren’t. You’ve got heavy hitters like Glenn Close, Kerry Washington, Jeremy Renner, and Andrew Scott. But they don't pop off the screen with their eccentricity. They mostly blend into the wallpaper. It’s a strange pivot for a franchise that's thrived on wildly different personalities bouncing off each other like verbal pinballs. I mean, how do you waste Thomas Haden Church with so little to say?

Thankfully, when Benoit Blanc finally shows up, once again played with delightful Southern-fried precision by Daniel Craig, the movie gets a much-needed jolt of life. The problem? There’s just not enough of him sleuthing. It’s like ordering your favorite meal and getting a sample instead of the full plate.

The mystery itself is dense and admittedly compelling. It does the heavy lifting because, frankly, not much else does. But where previous entries unraveled their secrets piece by piece, letting us feel clever along the way, this one leans hard into a lengthy, almost lecture-like explanation at the end. It’s less “aha!” and more “oh…okay, I guess.”

Visually speaking, the film is a knockout. The production design is gorgeous, with every frame looking like it was plucked from a gallery. It’s a shame that the conversations taking place in these spaces drag on forever without much payoff – they’re like sermons you politely sit through while checking the time.

Another missed opportunity is the film’s exploration of spirituality. Aside from one preachy conversation late in the game, the religious themes mostly sit in the background, occasionally clearing their throat but never really saying anything meaningful.

Humor-wise, you can feel the film trying. Sometimes really trying to recapture that sharp, effortless wit of its predecessors. A few lines land, but many feel like they’re reaching for laughs that never hit.

At the end of the day, Wake Up Dead Man is still a solid mystery, just not a standout one. It looks incredible, has a few strong performances, and a central puzzle that kept me interested. But it’s missing that spark, that quirky ensemble energy that made the earlier films so much fun to dissect. This one solves the case…but forgets to make you love the ride getting there.

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