Director: Rian Johnson
Original Release: September 6, 2025
My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5
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| via Wikipedia |
Super sleuth Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is back. A priest of a small town Upstate New York parish (Josh Brolin) has been murdered and his newly arrived assistant pastor (Josh O'Connor) is the prime suspect. Meanwhile, the massive inheritance - preserved in a single precious gem - has gone missing. Blanc is on the case.
I haven't written about the Knives Out series yet, of which Wake Up Dead Man is the third in the series, all written and directed by Rian Johnson and starring Daniel Craig. The franchise is based on classic mystery and mystery-comedy films. The original installment, released in 2019, was a massive hit: $312.9 million at the box office, nearly eight times its production budget. Netflix bought the exclusive rights to two sequels for $400 million.
All three movies are loads of fun. The original is probably my favorite and, for me, this third one is an improvement on the second, Glass Onion. Craig's James Bond charm transfers easily to Blanc. Wake Up Dead Man boasts a wonderful supporting cast, combining established A-listers like Brolin and Glenn Close with talented but less famous actors like Cailee Spaeny and Daryl McCormack. O'Connor holds his own with the bigger names. I particularly appreciated Mila Kunis in a notably unsexy role as the local chief of police.
The church itself was stunning. Exteriors were shot at the Church of the Holy Innocents in High Beach, Epping Forest, England. I was a little disappointed to learn that the interior, the real treat, was a soundstage built for the movie. It's easy to spot the Moby Dick homage: a pulpit built to look like a ship.
Johnson and Craig have each said they'll keep making Knives Out movies as long as they're both still involved. We're definitely up for more at our house.
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