If you enjoy mystery and crime films, this one is worth your attention. And if you have already watched it, this review might help you notice details that slipped past the first time. Isn’t that the common excuse for a rewatch?
Wake Up Dead Man (2025) is the third instalment in Rian Johnson’s directed and co-produced Knives Out mystery film series. Like the previous two films, Knives Out (2019) and Glass Onion (2022), Wake Up Dead Man stands on its own while keeping one constant: Daniel Craig as private detective Benoit Blanc. Once again, Blanc finds himself untangling a crime that is far more complicated than it first appears.
This time, the mystery centres on a death in a church. What follows is not a simple whodunnit. Blanc investigates layers of wrongdoing buried beneath that single death, which gives the story depth and momentum. The film is engaging and worth your time, but it also raises questions about its own focus.
At times, the film seems unsure of what it wants to be. Is it a tightly structured crime investigation, or a sharp critique of the Catholic Church? That tension runs through the story and does not always work in its favour.
The use of profane language is one early distraction. Netflix audiences may expect it, but in a church-centred setting, it feels jarring rather than purposeful. For instance, Jeffrey Wright delivers a strong performance as Bishop Langstrom, yet his dialogue choices clash with the role. You could argue this reflects a morally fractured church, caught between law and grace, but the film does not fully earn that argument.
Where the film consistently succeeds is its cast. As with earlier entries, the ensemble feels carefully balanced.
Glenn Close stands out as Martha Delacroix, bringing warmth and authority to the role. Her delivery makes the storytelling feel grounded and credible.
Daniel Craig makes his entrance nearly forty minutes in, but the wait pays off. His screen time is used well, especially in scenes opposite Josh O’Connor’s Jud Duplenticy, a young priest sent to Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude in upstate New York as punishment for punching an obnoxious deacon. Interactions between these two heighten the mystery and maintain a steady and engaging pace of the film.
Daryl McCormack plays Cy Draven, a failed political aspirant who reinvents himself online by posting conservative sermons and church events for personal gain, from a local church led by Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, portrayed by Josh Brolin. Around them is a diverse group of church members implicated in the murder: Jeremy Renner as the troubled Natt Sharp, Cailee Spaeny as miracle-seeking Simone Vivanne, Andrew Scott as a distressed past-his-prime fiction novelist, Less Ross, and Kerry Washington as Vera Draven, Cy’s guardian.
The balanced screen time works in the film’s favour. You are likely to find at least one character or part of the storyline that pulls you in and keeps you invested.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025) may not be the most focused entry in the series, but its layered mystery, strong performances, and ensemble chemistry make it a solid addition to the Knives Out franchise and definitely worth watching. What matters more to you when watching a mystery film: a clear moral stance, or a puzzle that keeps unfolding until the final scene?
