Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025)

3 Stars (out of 4)

Movable Priest

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Rian Johnson's third movie in a proposed four-movie series about detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), and his seventh film overall, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery didn't hit me as handily as the other two did. Knives Out (2019) and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022) were both exceedingly clever, with colorful characters, dazzling locations, and mysteries that snapped together with a satisfying click. Wake Up Dead Man is set in a church, and the mood is severe, as soon-to-be murder victim Monsignor Wicks (Josh Brolin) all but punishes the members of his flock.

His faithful followers, including church lady Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close), doctor Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), lawyer Vera Draven (Kerry Washington), Vera's adoptive son and Republican influencer Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack), author Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), and cellist and wheelchair user Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny), don't really pop as characters. They're all suffering, and hoping for help from Wicks, but that help will never come.

Former boxer and young priest Jud Duplenticy (Josh O'Connor), after punching out a rude deacon, is assigned to Wicks's church. He's immediately treated to Wicks's graphic confessions of many methods of masturbation, and the congregation doesn't seem to trust him. Wicks is mysteriously killed with a knife with a devil's head handle, and, since Jud stole such a handle from a local bar, Jud gets the blame. Jud, with his kind eyes, truly suffers through this ordeal, but Blanc — with long, floppy hair for some reason — shows up to help.

Unlike the first two movies, the mystery here gets a bit convoluted, and at one point, Blanc even gives up, saying he can't solve it (which seems unlike him). Blanc is even less funny here; usually one of his Southern sayings ("Heavens to Betsy" or "Fiddlesticks") cracks me up, but nothing this time. That about sums up what disappointed me about the movie. But here's what I loved about it. First up is O'Connor, who gives a truly potent, touching performance as Jud. We can feel his struggle, both physically and spiritually. He's paying the price for his past acts of violence, and he's still coiled and edgy. But he's comfortable on his spiritual path; he only has trouble convincing others to join him, which disappoints him. He's a fully-rounded, complex character.

Another thing I enjoyed is that Johnson was brave enough to cleverly and hilariously parody right-wing thought and behavior in a way that isn't angry. The other Knives Out films had a little bit of this as well, and certainly Johnson continues to be raked over the coals for daring to subvert the Jedi code in his excellent Star Wars film. This is uncommon, especially in an age when such things are punished, and Johnson should be commended.

In any case, this is all more like a journal of my thoughts on Wake Up Dead Man than a review. To sum up, I'd say that I was expecting a bit more, but I still liked it enough to perhaps someday give it another shot. Maybe things will make a bit more sense then.