Wake Up Dead Man was released on Netflix on November 26, 2025, and was established as the new installment of the Knives Out mystery series. When I first watched this film, I expected a clever mystery that would entertain me for its runtime as the others (Knives Out and Glass Onion) always had. Instead, this movie surprised me by how emotionally grounded it was, taking a sharp turn from the previous installments. The movie follows a small group of characters at a Catholic Church, with an arrogant priest, Jefferson. A new priest, Jud, enters the scene, and gives the churchgoers a newfound sense of what faith really means. However, just as he gets comfortable, Jefferson is murdered, and it’s up to Benoit Blanc to find out who it is again.
At its core, the movie follows a familiar structure to the other films. The clues are somewhat obviously placed, and the suspects are, again, intentionally suspicious. There were moments in this movie where I could grasp a sense of what the following scene was going to be before it happened, and in the previous, more conventional mystery films, this never occurred. It becomes apparent, however, that this movie is not designed to outsmart its audience, but give them a new outlook on how to deal with troubles in their pasts. Knowing what might happen did not personally take away from the movie because of the themes of grace and faith that were so heavily emphasized. This approach made the film feel more reflective and memorable than almost any other murder mystery film I have ever seen, let alone just in this series. The characters all have some aspect of their lives that they have turned to the church to help them for, but for most, Jefferson had only made this pain worse. Through silence, the film ironically speaks volumes about patience and honesty.
The performance of the character also tremendously progresses the plot effectively. Each actor Daniel Craig (Benoit Blanc), Josh Brolin (Jefferson Wicks), Josh O’Connor (Jud Duplenticy), and the other members of the supporting cast such as the churchgoers: Cailee Spaeny (Simone Vivane), Andrew Scott (Lee Ross), Glenn Close (Martha Delacroix), Kerry Washington (Vera Draven), and Jeremy Runner (Nat Sharp), all perfectly execute the pain the characters go through, from troubled authors to the chronically ill. In all honesty, these performances completely outweighed the plot, which I felt was not as strong as the previous movies. Additionally, the film visually maintains a somber and held-back tone that expertly echoes what it feels to be as restrained as the characters. With this, the lighting is always dim and dark unless Father Jud is in the scene, as he is eventually the light that is brought into the church. Most murder mysteries introduce rapid and sudden plot twists, but Wake Up Dead Man slows everything down to give each character their time to recover. Although this slower pace may not appeal to most, it definitely helped me appreciate the movie more as I could build better emotional connections with each primary character.
Although this film is not perfect in plot or in execution with its predictability, this does not undermine its emotional impact. If anything, it might have been necessary to neglect some of the aspects that previously defined the series to prioritize connecting with the audience. By creating an inescapable and gravitating atmosphere, the director, Rian Johnson, was able to make this movie stand out. This film reminds me why I am drawn to stories that focus on character and emotion, rather than flashy plots that are simply designed to do well in the box office. This film puts trust in the audience to truly understand its themes, and shows how to really progress a series.
