Rian Johnson’s “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” is another glossy puzzle box, 144 minutes of clockwork contraption that mostly clicks in entertaining fashion.
If “Knives Out” reimagined the whodunit and ‘Glass Onion’ doubled down on its meta playfulness, this third outing is both the most ambitious and the weakest—still entertaining, still engrossing for long stretches, but finally undone by its unwieldy last act.
The reviews have been strong out of TIFF — 82 on Metacritic and 96% on Metacritic. It’s on par with the other instalments “Knives Out” (Metascore: 82) and “Glass Onion” (Metscore: 81). Regardless, a trailer has been released for the film — seen below.
The setup this time is a Gothic church in upstate New York, where Johnson indulges his Agatha Christie streak with a fresh ensemble. Josh O’Connor stands out as Father Jud, an ex-boxer turned priest whose crooked grin and bruised faith make him the film’s most compelling figure; one almost wishes the film were his alone. Josh Brolin looms as a bullying monsignor, Glenn Close skulks throughout, and Cailee Spaeny, Kerry Washington, and Daryl McCormack are stranded with barely anything to do.
Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc doesn’t even appear until nearly a third of the way in, a gamble that slows the film’s pulse; when he finally does, his flamboyance sparks against O’Connor’s Jud. Their chemistry is great.
Johnson sharpens the political edge here—Brolin’s demagogue cleric is an unsubtle riff on strongman leaders weaponizing religion—but subtlety isn’t the film’s strength. The ride remains engaging enough: sharp dialogue, theatrical staging, flashes of humor. Yet by the finale, Johnson’s overexplaining kills the rhythm, with explanatory flashbacks swallowing the last twenty minutes.
The film will have a limited release in theaters on Nov. 26 as part of a two-week theatrical run before arriving on Netflix on Dec. 12.