A One Mann’s Movies review of “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” (From the 2025 London Film Festival). (2025, 4*, 12A).
Today sees the UK release of the next Benoit Blanc mystery/thriller film “Wake Up Dead Man”, directed by Rian Johnson. I saw this at the LFF in early October but am republishing that review now. It is going to no doubt head to Netflix very quickly, but is very cinematic and well worth you seeing it on the big screen before it goes.
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It’s been three years since the last “Knives Out” film, “Glass Onion“, hit our screens and I have to say, those years haven’t been particularly kind on Daniel Craig. He seems to have shot through his early 50’s Bond-good-looks and entered his late 50’s ‘craggy phase’. But as a character actor, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. “Wake Up Dead Man” gets its Gala UK Premiere this evening at the Royal Festival Hall tonight, but I was able to see a special press-screening this morning.
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
Benoit Blanc gets to confront his own religious beliefs, or lack thereof, when he investigates a seemingly impossible murder in a church alcove.
Certification:
UK: 12A; US: PG-13. (From the BBFC web site: “Moderate injury detail, violence, sex references, threat, strong language”.)
Talent:
Starring: Daniel Craig, Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, Thomas Haden Church, Jeffrey Wright, Annie Hamilton, James Faulkner, Bridget Everett, Noah Segan.
Directed by: Rian Johnson.
Written by: Rian Johnson.
Running Time: 2h 20m.
Summary:
Positives:
- A brilliant opening 45 minutes with a parade of great names acting flawlessly.
- Lots of laughs: its really, really funny.
Negatives:
- Rather too much twisty-turny stuff in the revelations and the Blanc-reveal speeches. Less would have been more.
Full Review of “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery”:
What a great opening, captained by Josh O’Connor.
I had my 5 stars all ready and waiting as this film began.
The first half of the film could be described as “Benoir-lite” since other than a two-second shot at the start of the film, we don’t see Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc for the first 45 minutes of screen-time. Instead, we get a wonderful introduction to our key protagonist, Rev. Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor): lethal boxer turned clergyman who gets posted as a pseudo-punishment (by the ever-impressive Jeffrey Wright, in a brief cameo), to the troubled community of Chimney Rock.
The church there is led by the brimstone-and-hellfire preacher Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) who has a magnetic hold over a tight group of townsfolk that Blanc later describes as “a hardened cyst of regulars” (LOL). They are:
- Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close) as the church warden and manager, who makes everything run like clockwork and is fiercely loyal to Wicks;
- Dr. Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), a local doctor taking his wife’s departure for another man very badly;
- Vera Draven (Kerry Washington), the Wicks family lawyer;
- Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack), Vera’s adopted son who is a failed politician and a failing Youtube influencer;
- Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), a local celebrity author who is looking for more than just sci-fi pot-boilers, and;
- Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny), a disabled ex-cellist who is desperate for a miracle cure through her faith.
Rian Johnson introduces us to this motley crew with enormous verve and comic energy. In particular, Josh O’Connor is simply magnificent as Jed holding the screen with enormous authority; Glenn Close chews the scenery in wonderful fashion, suddenly ‘apparating’ like Princess Anne in the British comedy show “The Windsors”; and the first 30 seconds of Andrew Scott’s performance had me literally giggling with glee – he is SUCH a charming and charismatic actor. It was also really GREAT to see Jeremy Renner back on the big screen again, his first role since that terrible snowplough accident nearly ended his life on New Years Day 2023.
Blanc appears and the pace stalls.
When Benoit Blanc makes his appearance the film – although still good – tended to stall for me across much of the second reel. This is not down to Daniel Craig, who is charismatic and charming as always. But Blanc gets to have to spout extended monologues about his views on religion that slows the pace of the film. This does though give us more insight into his faith – he is (please apply your own drawl) a “proud heretic” who “kneels at the alter of the rational”.
What happened to the simple gathering?
We all know the expected structure of these films: there is a murder, there is an investigation, there is a gathering of the suspects for the reveal and then there is an arrest. It’s all known. It’s all expected. It’s all very comforting like that. But here, Rian Johnson rather subverts that expectation, setting up and then disbanding various ‘gatherings’ and then adding a treasure hunt plus a completely different (and bizarre) mystery event to the third reel. For me, it was all a little too much for a comfy, cosy murder mystery and at 140 minutes, a ‘less is more’ approach would have been better.
It’s very funny.
Overall, I expect this one to go down well with audiences due to its laugh-rate, which is terrific: an early ‘confession’ scene between Wicks and Jud is hilarious; Jud is declared to be a PINO… a “Priest in Name Only”; the moat around Lee Ross’s house made me guffaw; and Andrew Scott has the best line in the film commenting that “the idiot version of us will end up on Netflix”. How very true (on December 12th)!
Technically very accomplished.
I can’t argue with any of the technical aspects of the film which are all very professional. The lighting, sound and cinematography are all great, as I would expect from an English crew.
The film does suffer the same fate as “The Roses” however in having an ‘American’ location which looks far too much like an English church (because indeed it is… the Church of the Holy Innocents, located at the village of High Beech in Epping Forest.
Summary Thoughts:
I had a whale of a time watching this, and I judged the general mood of the industry folk around me to be positive too. Is it as good as films one and two in the series (both 5-stars)? No, I personally don’t think so, but it’s really not that far off.
The movie should be receiving a limited theatrical release worldwide from November 26th 2025 and then will be moving to Netflix on December 12th. But it’s a good cinematic event, so I strongly suggest you try to see it on the big screen.
Where to watch?
Trailer:
A teaser trailer for the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHM1K1JByBI.
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