Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery Review
The third film in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out trilogy, Wake Up Dead Man is in the theaters this week and drops on Netflix in December. This was one of my most anticipated movies of the year, so I was very excited that I was able to catch it in the theater. What did I think about the movie? Is it any good? Let’s talk about it!
The Good
I’ll just cut right to the chase, Rian Johnson has done it again. This is another great murder mystery with a star studded cast and lots of humor. If you’re a fan of the previous two movies, then I’m sure you’re going to have a blast with this film. The movie is able to deliver everything that people want from this franchise. You get great actors, lots of humor, twists and turns that change your perspective on things. All around, Johnson made a great third entry in the Knives Out trilogy. Given I had so much anticipation going into this movie, it’s very easy that this movie could’ve disappointed. It’s rare that all three movies in a row within a franchise can be this good, but I think it just goes to show that Johnson is very talented and knows how to make engaging murder mysteries. After The Last Jedi, people were crapping on Rian Johnson. We can debate his choices in that movie but the Knives Out films have sort of been his redemption and showing audiences that he’s still really talented. As somebody who adores the previous two movies, this movie gave me everything that I wanted.
As it is a murder mystery the most important thing this movie needs to get right is the mystery itself, how engaging it is, and does the final answer pay off in the end. As far as the mystery and the journey, I was engaged from beginning to end. You have a good murder mystery when everybody is a suspect. In this movie it keeps on pointing the finger to somebody and then twists it around and then has you pointing it at somebody else. As soon as you think you figure it out, Rian Johnson is one step ahead of you and knows how to subvert expectations at just the right moment. There’s a set of characters in the movie that all have a personal vendetta out against the victim. You’re putting the pieces together as the movie is going trying to figure out what happened and why. Johnson knows how to set things up that have payoff in the third act. Something could be set up in the first 30 minutes and when it’s hinted at later on, your mind immediately goes to the first 30 minutes with what is set up. It’s the fun kind of murder mystery because you’re having as much fun watching the movie as you are putting the pieces together. As far as the final payoff in the film and what’s revealed about who did what and why, I thought it worked. I was satisfied with the final answers. When it was revealed to the characters and the audience what happened it all made sense, there wasn’t really any laps in logic of how things played out.
Of course as it is a Knives Out film you have to talk about the cast. All three of these movies have pretty star studded casts. Johnson recruits these big name actors to play flashy and fun characters. The one returning is of course Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, he’s still so much fun in this movie. He gets these great moments in here that put a smile on your face and had my audience laughing out loud. The co-lead of the movie is Josh O’Connor as the young priest. His role in the film is kind of similar to Ana de Armas in Knives Out, but he’s more proactive in the mystery and is involved more with what’s going on. Craig and O’Connor have a bit of a Sherlock Holmes and Watson dynamic which is a lot of fun. O’Connor is the one that I think a lot of people are going to be talking about. Of the performances I’ve seen from him, this would be my favorite. He’s so funny and charming and he steals a lot of the scenes that he’s in. Another fun standout in here is Glenn Close. It shouldn’t be a surprise that Close delivers a great performance. She’s not an obvious pick to be in this franchise but sometimes those are the most fun actors to put in here. Her character is rounded in the sense that she’s complex, she’s funny, and she can be dramatic when she needs to be. One of the other fun standouts here is actually one of the surprises in the movie. This actor was not revealed in the marketing so I’m not going to spoil who it is. If you’ve seen the movie then you know what I’m talking about. There’s this actor that bookends the movie and he gets some of the best laughs in the movie. You have an all star cast with Josh Brolin, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, and more familiar faces along the way.
Something that really surprised me about the movie was it just feels different from the previous two films and that’s for two different reasons. First up, the way the mystery is constructed and how other characters are involved is different from the previous films. Both Craig and O’Connor are with the police for a majority of the movie and figuring out the evidence with them. Mila Kunis plays the sheriff of the town and she’s the most proactive law enforcement that we’ve gotten in this franchise. Even with how Craig ties into the things and how he’s involved with the mystery is different from the previous films. It’s just those small things in the movie that pops and make things stand out. It’s also a film with a very religious and catholic backdrop. The movie is largely set in a church, all of the main ensembles are catholic. This isn’t a spoiler but Josh Brolin is the one that gets murdered and he’s a priest at this church so there’s so much religion baked into this movie. All of it was done very well, it wasn’t preachy but it gave this movie a new angle to explore all of its ideas. One of the characters is a failed politician so they explore corruption in the religion and tie that into politics. There were just all of these things in the movie that made it not feel like a rehash of what came before. I think that’s what all great legacy sequels should do.
Finally, the film is very funny. From beginning to end my audience was laughing out loud. There’s just such a nice string of jokes that are really funny. The tension can be cut with jokes at just the right moment. All of our characters have a moment or some sort of running gag where they get to be the standout. There’s this whole conversation between Josh O’Connor and Josh Brolin early on in the movie that’s one of the most random conversations in a movie this year but it’s so funny. The line delivery and the reactions it’s just so good. The movie can be a bit meta at points with referencing other murder mysteries that put a smile on your face. This is one of the funniest movies of the year and it’s a movie that’s so much to see on the big screen with a packed audience because everybody is just having a blast watching this movie.
The Bad
The big thing here is I think this might be the weakest ensemble that we’ve gotten in the Knives Out franchise. To be clear, this is still a great ensemble with great actors. I think this statement isn’t a knock on this film but rather just how good the ensembles were of the past films. With this film, Johnson took the franchise in a darker direction while still having the humor and fun you expect. But because the movie isn’t as goofy or as in your face as the previous two, it means that the characters aren’t as flashy. The actors aren’t given as many big flashy moments as Chris Evans got in the original or what Kate Hudson was doing in Glass Onion. That doesn’t make these actors bad, but when you’re comparing the cast of characters from this film to the previous films I don’t think these are some of the more memorable characters. I think with this film I’m going to remember the characters because of the actor, not because of their personality or the quirky they have. When you’re going into a Knives Out movie you want a bit more pop with the characters.
From there, the movie I think is a bit too long. It’s 2 hours and 24 minutes long. This is the longest film in the trilogy by about 5 minutes. With this movie, I don’t know what you would cut out but I felt like the movie was too long. It’s a solid 25-30 minutes before Daniel Craig shows up and becomes a prominent character in the movie. When you’re doing a movie like this you need time with the characters and establishing motivations and who these characters are, but I wish they found a way to get to the mystery quicker and tighten some scenes up here and there to shorten it.
Final Thoughts: Overall, Wake Up Dead Man is one of my favorite movies of 2025. Rian Johnson delivered another fantastic murder mystery that delivers the experience you want from a Knives Out movie. Josh O’Connor and Glenn Close are the stand outs for our new cast. I think fans of the previous two films are going to love this movie.
The Score: 9.2/10 (A-)
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