Wake Up A Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery!

Published by B Sameer on December 13, 2025December 13, 2025

Wake Up A Dead Man (2025) is a whodunit crime drama film by American filmmaker Rian Johnson. This is the third and latest movie from the popular Hollywood movie franchise of ‘Knives Out’ mystery films.

Once again, like its predecessors, its movie title is named after a song. Notably, the "Wake Up Dead Man" is a dark, powerful track from U2's 1997 album, Pop, known for its raw sound.

The original title of this movie was ‘Wake Up A Dead Man’. However, one more time, it seems that its makers have chosen to use the rather lengthy title ‘Wake Up A Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery’, perhaps for continuity, familiarity, marketing purposes, etc. Besides, the protagonist is the famous detective, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), who is common to both the movies that we have reviewed in our Focus Magazine in the past. And, in this article below, we review the third part of this movie series.

• Knives Out (2019) Movie
• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022) Movie

Wake Up A Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery Is A Slow-Burning Crime Drama

Spoiler-Free Review of Wake Up A Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025) Movie

Synopsis

Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) returns for his most dangerous case yet in the third and darkest chapter of Rian Johnson’s murder mystery opus. In this murder mystery drama, Benoit Blanc teams up with an earnest young priest, Father Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor), to investigate a perfectly impossible crime at a small-town church with a dark history.

Poster

Taglines: It's one hell of a murder. | He works in mysterious ways.

Brief Storyline

The story is set in a small parish in upstate New York, where the corrupt Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) has assembled a Church group of scared and angry townspeople into his congregation.

Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close), Dr Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), Vera Draven (Kerry Washington), Andrew Scott (Lee Ross), Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny), Daryl McCormack (Cy Draven), and Samson Holt (Thomas Haden Church) are an integral part of his small group of people. Then, on one of the Easter Weekend days, Monsignor Jefferson Wicks is discovered deceased in a cramped closet in his own church.

Following the shocking discovery of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks’s dead body, the local Chief of Police, Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) and Blanc are tasked with solving a crime that defies comprehension.

According to the local police in the film, Father Jud Duplenticy, is a murder suspect number one. As a matter of fact, every member of the Church small group (in the poster shared above), viz., Martha Delacroix, Dr Nat Sharp, Vera Draven, Andrew Scott, Simone Vivane, Daryl McCormack, and Samson Holt, has their own valid reasons to carry out the very well-planned murder.

So, whodunnit?

Inspired by

It seems that the planned murder of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks was inspired by and based on the Church group’s reading list of the following books.

• The Hollow Man (1935) by John Dickson Carr,
• The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841) by Edgar Allan Poe,
• The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) and The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) by Agatha Christie.

In other words, these crime fiction novels have influenced the key plot points of the movie too.

What’s good

✔️ This crime mystery movie has a slow but engrossing tale. We did manage to half-guess the identity of the killer. However, to learn about the underlying reasons for the murder, one has to make it to the end.

✔️ After playing the 007 James Bond in 5 movies, now it seems that Daniel Craig is enjoying portraying protagonist Benoit Blancand in 3 movies, so far. In fact, he is quite good as a brilliant detective.

✔️ Besides, we enjoyed the comedy-infused dialogues in this suspenseful crime drama movie. We could hear quite a few smart and humorous one-liners in it while watching it. For instance, check this chat:

Father Jud Duplenticy: I take it you're not a Catholic.
Benoit Blanc: Ah, no. Proud Heretic. I kneel at the altar of the rational.

✔️ Also, the actor Josh O’Connor, who plays the deuteragonist Father Jud Duplenticy, has managed to keep pace with Daniel Craig in almost all scenes. He is good too.

✔️ In reality, we were impressed by the performances of the entire ensemble cast, especially Glenn Close, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Lee Ross, Cailee Spaeny, Cy Draven, and Thomas Haden Church.

Rating

Conclusion

A few months back, we were watching another entertaining crime drama show, ‘Poker Face’ (Season 2/2025), created by him. Now, Rian has come out with the ‘Wake Up A Dead Man’ film, which is a gripping and intriguing crime drama to watch. It is commendable that his whodunnit murder drama managed to keep the suspense for more than a couple of hours.

This story has a religious angle, and it seems personal. Kudos to Rian Johnson for another well-written and directed mystery drama starring Daniel Craig as a clever and quick-witted Detective Benoit Blanc.

Key Details

Trailer

YouTube Video Clip Link of the - miracle or murder? find out in WAKE UP DEAD MAN, now playing worldwide on Netflix

Poster & Featured Image of Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025) Movie | Pictures Credit: Netflix