I’ve been entertained by Ryan Johnson’s two previous Knives Out mysteries. This new one, Wake Up Dead Man, gives Johnson the opportunity to have his quirky detective, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), deliver a lecture about impossible crimes and locked room mysteries.
Young Father Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor) finds himself a suspect in an impossible murder. But Benoit Blanc shows up and starts to unravel the tricky murder. The list of other suspects includes devout Catholic Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close), local doctor Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), struggling writer Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), disabled concert cellist Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny), the Dravens–lawyer Vera (Kerry Washington) and aspiring politico Cy (Daryl McCormack)–and the reclusive church groundskeeper Samson Holt (Thomas Hayden Church).
If you enjoyed Knives Out (2019) and Glass Onion (2022), you’ll find Wake Up Dead Man just as suspenseful and clever. GRADE: B+
Looking forward to the latest installment. We’re going to watch it while the girls are home for Christmas.
Deb, the whole Locked Room aspect held my attention. After watching WAKE UP DEAD MAN I wanted to drop everything and read some John Dickson Carr!
Haven’t watched it yet. Will soon.
Jeff, I was surprised by some of the religious aspects of WAKE UP DEAD MAN. I wasn’t expecting that in a murder mystery movie…
Josh O’Connor made it something more than a whodunit. Amazing actor.
Patti, I wasn’t familiar with Josh O’Conner–I didn’t watch THE CROWN–but his performance in WAKE UP DEAD MAN was impressive!
We’ve been seeing Josh O’Connor in a number of things lately. LA CHIMERA, about an archaeologist who turns tomb robber, is well worth watching. We really enjoyed WAKE UP DEAD MAN.
Jeff, Diane and I have enjoyed all three “Knives Out” movies. Hope there’s a fourth one in production…