Wake Up Dead Man, A Knives Out Mystery

UK Release Date. 12 December 2025
Certification. 12A
Running Time. 2 hours 25 min
Director. Rian Johnson
Cast. Josh Brolin, Thomas Haden Church, Glenn Close, Daniel Craig, Mila Kunis, Daryl McCormack, Josh O'Connor, Jeremy Renner, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Kerry Washington, Jeffrey Wright.
Rating. 67%

Review.

Rian Johnson's Knives Out released in 2019 was fresh and inventive, and so much fun that, inevitably, the critical knives came out when the follow-up, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, was released in 2022, and for many, failed to live up to the original's standard.

The third film, Wake Up Dead Man, A Knives Out Mystery, is undoubtedly a return to form, and one to rival the inaugural Knives Out. Wake Up Dead Man, A Knives Out Mystery, is a much darker, gothic, Edgar Allan Poe-inspired murder mystery, rich in social satire, yet devoid of the maliciousness present in all too many of its contemporaries.

Daniel Craig returns as Benoit Blanc, although it is almost 40 minutes before he appears on screen. In the interim, the audience quickly learn the lay of the land from a narration from Father Jud Duplenticy (Josh O'Connor). Daniel Craig is, once again, superb, but even he is eclipsed by the exceptional O'Connor, who shines as the young Catholic priest Duplenticy, an ex–boxer with a less than whiter-than-white past.

Smartly written, ingeniously plotted and quite beautifully shot by the cinematographer Steve Yedlin. Johnson and his casting directors, Bret Howe and Mary Vernieu would have struggled to assemble a better cast. Joining Craig and O'Connor are Josh Brolin, Thomas Haden Church, Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, Daryl McCormack, Jeremy Renner, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Kerry Washington and Jeffrey Wright. The ensemble is largely in tune with Johnson's screenplay; Andrew Scott is under-employed and only Mila Kunis is miscast as Police Chief Geraldine Scott. The role neither plays to her comedic nor dramatic strengths, resulting in a tepid, two-dimensional character.

There are apparently no concrete plans for a fourth film as yet, although Daniel Craig has reportedly stated he remains committed to the series as long as Rian Johnson remains at the helm.