Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
- 19 minutes ago
- 3 min read
The best Benoit Blanc mystery since the original, WAKE UP DEAD MAN: A Knives Out Mystery is a hilarious, suspenseful whodunit of the highest order.
What a cast! What a mystery.
When the original Knives Out hit theaters Thanksgiving week 2019, I had said in my review that I hoped Daniel Craig & Rian Johnson would make a hundred of these Sherlock Holmes style thrillers.
Well the great news is our third entry is every bit as good as the first.
Writer/Director Johnson has a knack for spinning a tale and he's got a doozy to share this time out. If the last entry "Glass Onion" felt high-tech and modern, 'Wake Up Dead Man" conjures up the atmosphere of a 1960's Hammer film, all gothic churches, rainy nights with mysterious figures running across paths along with a bloody demise for one of our characters.
NO SPOILERS here and I'm not detailing anything that's not front and center in the terrific trailer below.
But I will tell you that the story is so smartly crafted that I wasn't even focused on the right direction and was not prepared for one of the best plot twists I've ever seen. It's an a-HA! moment for the ages.
This cast!
Josh O'Connor (Challengers) is Jud, a young priest and former boxer assigned by Bishop Langstrom (the hilarious Jeffrey Wright) to a small, failing Catholic church in a tiny town, led by the completely off-the-rails Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, perfectly cast in the form of Josh Brolinm who's having a great 2025 between this and "Weapons". He's never been better.
To say Monsignor Wicks is a fire and brimstone voice from that very high, ornate pulpit is a massive understatement. His quiet confessions to Jud are laugh out loud moments that don't disappoint.
Wicks most loyal acolyte is Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close) who will do anything to support the Monsignor. She seems to be lurking around every marble corner.
Jeremy Renner (Avengers, Wind River) is Dr. Sharp, who sits meekly in the pew every Sunday, shattered by his recent divorce.
Kerry Washington is Vera Draven, a very successful lawyer, whose adopted son Cy (Daryl McCormack from "Twisters") has come back home, a grown up influencer who is never without his iPhone and ring light. His quest for clicks is relentless.
Andrew Scott (Spectre) is a famous author who's last big book was awhile ago. He's obsessed with writing a massive tome about Monsignor Wicks that paints him as the savior of the modern age.
Cailee Spaeny (Alien:Romulus) is Simone Vivane, a famous cellist whose constant, undiagnosed pain has rendered her unable to perform. She invests all her hope and considerable funds in the Monsignor and his power to heal.
The always welcome Thomas Haden Church (Sideways) plays Samson, the handyman at the church who lives just off property.
These characters are all present when the Monsignor is impossibly murdered, just off screen, in a small alcove with an open door.
It's impossible.
And that's when the film is off and running, very cleverly and hilariously revealing itself as local police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) and the famous Benoit Blanc arrive on scene.
Craig has never been better as Blanc. His eclectic approach, perfect southern drawl and attitude kept me laughing and very intrigued as a murder that he himself calls "impossible" is dismantled piece by piece.
In his four films as OO7, Craig never had the chance to play off characters with this kind of old school relish, hanging on every word of the suspects and reacting with facial expressions or stylized comebacks that have their own license to kill. He's having fun in the role and it's impossible for us not to, right alongside him.
Like the countless Basil Rathbone/Sherlock Holmes films of old, the characters serve up a smorgasbord of possibilities and motivation.
It felt like there was even more humor this time out and every punch line and snarky observation lands with perfection. Connor is fantastic as the young Priest and Blanc's proverbial Watson in solving the crime.
It's the ultimate Scooby Dooby-Doo mystery according to Benoit, and I agree.
Turn off the lights, settle in for some thunder and rain soaked mystery and 144 minutes of fun that feels more like 90.
WAKE UP DEAD MAN: A Knives Out Mystery sleuths its smart, enjoyable path to an A.
Mr. Craig and Mr. Johnson, can you please deliver one of these Thanksgiving cinematic feasts every other year? I'm already hungry for the next bite.
