Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Short description
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is a 2025 crime mystery directed and written by Rian Johnson. Daniel Craig returns as detective Benoit Blanc, who is drawn into a small town where a young priest, Father Jud Duplenticy, has been assigned to a parish led by the charismatic Monsignor Jefferson Wicks. The church conceals a troubled past, and when a killing takes place that appears to defy any ordinary explanation, Blanc joins forces with the local police chief and the young priest to work out how the crime could have happened at all.
The cast includes Josh O'Connor as Father Jud, Josh Brolin as Monsignor Wicks, Glenn Close, Mila Kunis and Jeremy Renner. It is the seventh film Johnson has directed, following Brick, The Brothers Bloom, Looper, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Knives Out and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and the third entry in the Benoit Blanc series. Johnson produced with Ram Bergman through T-Street Productions. At 145 minutes, it runs longer than the earlier mysteries.
It received a critics' rating of 7.9 out of 10 from 336 reviews, slightly above its audience scores of 7.3 from 221,000 votes on IMDb and 7.2 from 2,886 votes on TMDB, indicating broad but not universal approval. Its worldwide box office of 4 million dollars is small next to its reported 210 million dollar budget, reflecting a limited theatrical presence before streaming.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film was shot in reverse order compared to the plot's development. Initially, only Daniel Craig, Mila Kunis, and Josh O’Connor were filmed; after a few weeks, almost all of the actors involved in the project joined them, and finally – last of all – Josh Brolin.
- The autopsy scene featured a mannequin made to resemble Josh Brolin.
- Pastor Scott Bailey from Denver served as a religious consultant.
- The church was filmed near London. A vicar – Reverend Jane Widon – was constantly present on set. Once, Mila Kunis (who played police officer Geraldine Scott) mistook Widon for an extra.
- Glenn Close's character wears a crucifix that the actress's father gave her (he received it himself at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican). The actress also wore this crucifix in Bill August's drama "The House of the Spirits" (1993).
- Actor Ricky Jay is mentioned in all three films of the franchise. In the first film from 2019, he was supposed to play the gardener, but passed away shortly before filming began, and only his photograph is shown in the film. In the second film of the franchise (2022), he is mentioned in passing, and in the third film (2025), a poster of his 1996 television film, "Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants," is shown.
- As with the previous film, the comedic detective story "Knives Out: Glass Onion" (Rian Johnson, 2022), the subtitle "A Knives Out Mystery" is never shown on screen. It only appeared on posters. Writer and director Rian Johnson has never hidden his dislike of the subtitle, stating that he wants each of his films to live its own life, like Agatha Christie's books, which were published without subtitles hinting to the reader about another meeting with Hercule Poirot.
- Scott plans to reward Detective Elliott for giving her Blanc's phone. LaKeith Stanfield played the role of Elliott in the first film of the franchise, released in 2019.
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