Time: 144 Minutes
Age Rating: M– Offensive language, violence
Cast:
Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc
Josh O’Connor as Rev. Jud Duplenticy
Glenn Close as Martha Delacroix
Josh Brolin as Msgr. Jefferson Wicks
Mila Kunis as Geraldine Scott
Jeremy Renner as Dr. Nat Sharp
Kerry Washington as Vera Draven, Esq.
Andrew Scott as Lee Ross
Cailee Spaeny as Simone Vivane
Daryl McCormack as Cy Draven
Thomas Haden Church as Samson Holt
Director: Rian Johnson

With it being the latest Knives Out/Benoit Blanc movie from writer/director Rian Johnson and lead star Daniel Craig, Wake Up Dead Man was one of my most anticipated movies of 2025. It absolutely delivered, and was possibly the best of the three Knives Out films.

As expected based on the previous couple of movies, the writing is snappy, it does well at subverting expectations and there’s plenty of twists, though Wake Up Dead Man is the most traditional and straightforward murder mystery of the three. The first half of the film has a big build up and dumps a lot of information on you as it takes its time establishing the characters and events leading up to the murder at the centre of this mystery. However, even then it’s intriguing and after that death, it really picks up, and really pays off in its second half. Glass Onion dialed up the satire significantly, Wake Up Dead Man tones it down and is considerably more serious, while still having a lot of effective and enjoyable humour. It’s also the most emotional, layered, and thematically complex of the trilogy too, with its look at religion, faith and guilt. There’s a surprising amount of empathy and tenderness, and it handles things with a lot of gravitas.

Daniel Craig delivers his best performance as Benoit Blanc. He’s funny and entertaining, but Wake Up Dead Man is also where Blanc is challenged the most here. However, Josh O’Connor is the standout, delivering the best performance from all 3 Knives Out movies. He’s the actual main character of the movie in the way Ana de Armas was in Knives Out, he delivers a layered and nuanced performance, and I really liked seeing his character arc and progression. The pairing of Craig and O’Connor was amazing, and I loved the dynamic between them. There is also a great ensemble cast, with Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Kerry Washington, Cailee Spaeny, and more. I will say that of the three movies, it utilises the ensemble cast the least. For the sake of spoilers I won’t hint at which of them are great and which of them aren’t handled the best. What I will say is that some of the side characters are just there and don’t leave much of an impression, even if they are performed well.

Rian Johnson’s direction is great once again, and this is the best made of the trilogy. The cinematography  is stunning, the editing is sharp, and the top notch gothic imagery, lighting and production design effectively reflects the story and tone.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is a sombre, funny, compelling, thematic, engaging and clever murder mystery, with an amazing ensemble of performances. While I would like to see Rian Johnson take a break from the Benoit Blanc films and direct some other movies, I would nonetheless be on board with seeing him and Daniel Craig make as many movies in this series as they want.