US EditionWake Up Dead Man Review: Killer Franchise Gets Back on Track with This Sarky Whodunnit Starring Andrew Scott and Daryl McCormack
Rian Johnson’s latest Knives Out chapter features a Gothic locked-room murder in a stone church with detective Benoit Blanc returning to solve the intricate case.
- Dec. 12, Wake Up Dead Man debuted on Netflix worldwide, marking writer-director Rian Johnson's return to the Knives Out universe with Daniel Craig and a starry ensemble cast.
- Set in a stone church, the film foregrounds Gothic influences as Johnson sets the tale in Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude, scarred by greed and desecration, evoking Edgar Allan Poe and referencing John Dickson Carr's The Hollow Man.
- Monsignor Wicks' death in a locked enclosure intensifies parish infighting as he is found in a sealed concrete box off the altar, with suspicion falling on Father Jud Duplenticy.
- At its TIFF premiere, the film drew laughter and cheers from audiences, and reviewers urged seeing it in theaters for the communal experience and rewatching.
- Positioned within the Knives Out saga, the film marks a tonal shift as Wake Up Dead Man reshapes the franchise into a tidier, higher-stakes whodunnit featuring Daniel Craig and Josh O'Connor and broadens themes with American cultural critiques.
11 Articles
11 Articles
Wake Up Dead Man review: Killer franchise gets back on track with this sarky whodunnit starring Andrew Scott and Daryl McCormack
To chilly upstate New York where a notorious small-town priest (Josh Brolin’s Monsignor Jefferson Wicks) pops his clogs during mass. A nasty knife wound suggests murder, but in a church full of onlookers? It defies logic.
'Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery' spoiler-free review
Sound the church bells, a mystery is afoot! Rian Johnson, the acclaimed writer/director of Knives Out and its splashy COVID-lockdown-set sequel The Glass Onion, is back with fresh blood in Wake Up Dead Man. Fans of Daniel Craig's smooth-as-bourbon Southern detective Benoit Blanc have reason to rejoice, as this third installment is tenaciously twisty, deliciously deranged, and a hell of a good time. As fans of this franchise will undoubtedly want…
Who is Daryl McCormack? Get to know the rising Irish star
Following in the footsteps of other Irish greats, Daryl McCormack's name has been popping up everywhere in recent times. Previously nominated for an IFTA and a BAFTA in the Rising Star category, he's starred alongside Emma Thompson in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, and Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones in Twisters. Today's top videos Now that he's back on our TV screens in the star-studded Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, here's everythin…
Interview: Cinematographer Steve Yedlin Discusses the Look of 'Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery'
The look of the Knives Out franchise has changed from movie to movie. Obviously, a lot of that is due to filmmaker Rian Johnson, though it also comes from cinematographer Steve Yedlin. You can look at Knives Out, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and now Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, and see that it’s the same series, while noticing all of the visual differences. I spoke to Rian Johnson here about the most recent flick, but today, it’…
Wake Up Dead Man Knows the Whodunnit is Inherently Political. (It’s also a Perfect Movie.)
Featured image: Netflix To be honest, I’ve been afraid of writing this review. I was so deeply moved by Wake Up Dead Man, the new film from Rian Johnson (and the third in his Benoit Blanc trilogy), so much that I became (uncharacteristically) nervous to try to discuss it; amid all the praise and devoted close-readings that I felt sure would meet the film upon its release, I wanted my thoughts, my contribution, to really mean something. That’s th…
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