The Latest “Knives Out” Film Is An Intriguing Murder Mystery
- Matt Palmer
- Dec 16, 2025
- 3 min read
The “Knives Out” films have been fairly intriguing murder mysteries. The series started in 2019 with “Knives Out,” which was met with critical acclaim and was also well-liked by audiences. After its success, Netflix bought the exclusive rights to two sequels for over $400 million. The second film, “Glass Onion,” was also released to a positive critical reception in 2022, but not nearly as well-received as the first film.
The third murder mystery, “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” is now streaming on Netflix and I had the opportunity to check this one out at the local theater!
Benoit Blanc returns for his most dangerous case yet in the latest chapter of the murder mystery series. Detective Blanc teams up with an earnest young priest to investigate a perfectly impossible crime at a small-town church with a dark history.
“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” is a worthy follow up to the series and could actually be the best in the franchise. The third film delivers a darker tone at a religious setting which provides a fresh feel to the ongoing series and brings the series back to the “whodunit” mystery angle that is actually really captivating.
The third mystery features some rather witty moments (mainly from Blanc, once again portrayed by the brilliant Daniel Craig) that can really give you a good laugh, a really stacked cast, an exploration of faith and exploitation and director Rian Johnson’s ability to blend complex themes with fun, twisty entertainment, making it feel both classic and timely.
“Wake Up Dead Man” features many twists and turns weaved throughout the film that
will absolutely keep you guessing until the final moments. Even though some of the plot can be slightly complex at times, all of the twists come together quite nicely and there were times that I thought I had the main culprit figured out - and, of course, I was wrong.
The mystery surrounding Monsignor Jefferson Wicks’ murder is really compelling since the character is seemingly stabbed in front of his congregation without anyone really noticing what happened. This ended up being one of those mysteries that would make you wonder whether Blanc could solve this or not. This murder mystery also features some fairly memorable moments, including the young priest’s violent past as a boxer and I won’t really get into anymore moments since any little detail could potentially spoil the culprit. But, like I said, all the twists and turns throughout the film really tie together nicely.
“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” is a gothic whodunit that explores deep themes of faith, morality, and human fallibility. It’s a darker, more grounded installment compared to the previous film, blending sharp humor with serious philosophical inquiry in a small-town church setting.
The third “Knives Out” mystery is currently streaming on the Netflix streaming service.
MPA: Rated PG-13 for violent content, bloody images, strong language, some crude sexual material, and smoking (runtime 142 minutes)
In August 2025, Netflix announced that the planned theatrical release would be scaled back from earlier plans and the film would have only a token theatrical release instead before going straight to their streaming platform. Apparently, neither director Rian Johnson nor star Daniel Craig were very happy at this decision as they had both wanted audiences to have the option of seeing it shown at cinemas, but their wishes were overruled.
The crucifix that Glenn Close wears in the film was given to her in real life by her father, who got it at St. Peter's Basilica, and is the same one she wore in the film House of the Spirits.
Like its predecessors, the film is named after a song. In this case, it is "Wake Up Dead Man" from U2's 1997 album Pop.
This was Jeremy Renner's first movie after his near-fatal snow plow accident in 2023. He said "It's a lot of support, man. It's lovely to have it. There's such a communion and camaraderie that happens, especially on a movie like this. This is not even really a movie to me, it's more like a stage play. We're always together, we're always in each other's faces, even when we're acting. When you have 15 people on a camera, you spend a lot of time with them. It reminds me of doing a play. It feels good to be back and welcomed back to the job that I love, with really great people."
The movie was actually shot in reverse of how the story mainly unfolds. Daniel Craig, Mila Kunis and Josh O'Connor opened the shooting, followed by almost all of the main cast a few weeks later and finally Josh Brolin joined to wrap it up.
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