“Wake Up Dead Man” (2025)
While it doesn’t quite live up to the first two entries in the “Knives Out” franchise, “Wake Up Dead Man” is still a fascinating third chapter.
The story unfolds around a cast of characters at a Catholic church with a shrinking flock and a zealot of a pastor, Msgr. Jefferson Wicks, played by Josh Brolin.
Kerry Washington, Glenn Close, Andrew Scott, Jeremy Renner, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack and Thomas Haden Church play the core members of his flock, while Josh O’Connor plays a fellow priest who is new to the parish and at odds with Jefferson’s mostly conservative, at-times violent rhetoric.
Mila Kunis comes in as the local law enforcement and recruits our Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) to help her solve the case of Jefferson’s death.
O’Connor anchors this film with an incredible performance, much like Ana de Armas did in “Knives Out” and Janelle Monae in “Glass Onion” (the second “Knives Out” mystery). But even his charm and sheepish grin cannot bring “Wake Up Dead Man” to the level of the first two films.
I loved the ensembles in the first two films, but this one is largely underwhelming, despite how much I usually enjoy most of them as actors.
There is a lot of plot in this third entry, with a lot more criminal activity and scandals being revealed and unfolding in real time as the film progresses. That leads it to feel a little overwrought.
In the end, though, I still had a lot of fun with this film and it is still a worthy entry in the franchise. I know there were only supposed to be three films in this series, but rumors of a fourth have begun. I hope writer-director Rian Johnson and Craig make the internet’s dreams come true with a muppet (or puppet) murder mystery where Blanc is the only human character.
For now, though, I am mostly happy with these first three entries, and “Wake Up Dead Man” is still a good time at the cinema.