Netflix’s Wake Up Dead Man Review: The Best Knives Out Movie Is Also The Least Fun

In honor of Daniel Craig's third feature outing as master investigator Benoit Blanc, I'd love to add a Southern twahy-ang to the entirety of this Wake Up Dead Man review — really give it some pahythos and chah-rick-tahr. But no matter how much I really want to dip my tootsies in those wahtuhs, I won't. For one, that schtick would just distract from the real point, which is something that Rian Johnson's Knives Out villains are known for, and I'm no villain. Second, it would take too long.

Third, and most important for our current purposes, doing so would readily be considered a silly and flighty exercise worthy of Glass Onion's gaggle of affluent knobs. And, my friends, Wake Up Dead Man does not invest any of its time in trying to be frivolous. This is church, not Silly...ville....Station. Which is all to say that though I definitely think Johnson and Craig's third teaming is brilliant, chilling, and the best yet from this murder mystery franchise, it also loses some of the winking charms and situational levity of the first two films. Necessary or not, I wanted to laugh more.

How obvious is it that I'm wearing these molasses-covered tap shoes just so I can slowly dance around the cardinal sin of spoilers? Alas, the church bells are ringing, so let us pray. In the name of the director...

Rian Johnson puts the magnifying glass on religion, faith and community.

Lest anyone think Benoit Blanc's life story is being put under the microscope here, Wake Up Dead Man is about the quirky and interconnected congregation keeping Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude up and running through hell or high falutin' reverands who dare challenge the almighty word of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks – brought to life by Josh Brolin. Brolin brings all the vim, vigor, piss, vinegar and vitriol to Wicks' psychologically sadistic sermons, and one of the biggest (mostly answered) questions viewers will have will no doubt be "Why would anyone put themselves through this?"

The yin to Wicks' da-a-ang is Josh O'Connor's Reverend Jud Duplenticy, who is initially optimistic when Jeffrey Wright's Bishop Langstrom assigns him to a small-town church whose clergy is tight with parishioners. (If you need instant gravitas with limited time on the set, few choices exist that are better than Wright.) Before long, Jud finds his eagerness stunted by Wicks and his subtly tyrannical rule over everyone in his church's pews. Yes, it is HIS church with a captital GTFO if you forget it.

Wake Up Dead Man applies a surprisingly measured approach to its religious subject matter. O'Connor convincingly personifies Jesus' New Testament teachings as a former boxer whose particularly notable crisis of conscience led him to God's graces – which obviously makes Wicks the hard-nosed Old Testament warlord. Benoit Blanc later arrives as the "proud heretic" who only aims to see things through the spectrum of logic and finds that there are indeed values in preaching more than just atheism.

Even beyond all of the moral-centric ways that religion can spice up a murder-mystery, it also sets an interesting stage for Wake Up Dead Man's central murder — remember somebody dies in this? — in a way that allows for certain expectations that aren't necessarily the norm for a murder investigation. Instead of What Would Jesus Do, this is more "What would Benoit Blanc do if faced with the combo of a seemingly impossible murder and a miracle?"

Another all-star Knives Out cast successfully keeps audiences guessing.

Daniel Craig is as dapper and charming as ever as the unstoppable Blanc, and he's once again surrounded by brilliant thespians working all the mystery's machinations. Beyond the aforementioned excellence of O'Connor and Brolin, we have a tabernacle of talent also filling out the list of potential suspects (and victims).

Glenn Close brings single-sighted zealotry to the role of Wicks' second-banana Meredith Delecroix, whose wandering eye is locked on Thomas Haden Church's Cubs-loving groundskeeper Samson Holt. The congregation consists of the secretly boozy town doctor Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner); the successful and self-minded sci-fi author Lee Ross (Andrew Scott); the disabled and cure-seeking former concert cellist Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny); the stressed and put-upon lawyer Vera Draven (Kerry Washington); and the hopeful politician Sy Draven (Daryl McCormack).

Part of the fun of Knives Out films has become seeing the prim and proper Blanc sharing space and ideas with groups of characters he'd likely never mix it up with just for pleasure, and the same holds true with Wake Up Dead Man, even if he most closely works with Jud and the local authorities. Just watching him observe everyone else adds texture to the mystery.

Speak of the local PD, Blanc is brought to the town of Chimney Rock by police chief Geraldine Scott, played by Mila Kunis in what's arguably the least inspired casting choice. Don't get me wrong: I like Kunis and she's fine here, but the role isn't playing to either her comedic or dramatic strengths, and I can imagine others bringing something more memorable to the performance.

I appreciate Johnson stepping back from Glass Onion’s excess, but I do miss some of the silliness.

The murder and the surrounding investigation are rather miticulously laid out, with enough clues sprinkled throughout to keep audiences from falling too far behind the on-screen characters. But even when one does get a piece of the puzzle correct, there's almost always another piece waiting to be discovered that you didn't even realize was missing. In that way, Wake Up Dead Man is as fun as anything else involving church, at least to me.

However, the core concepts and themes of hellfire, damnation, judgment, shame, regret and analogous topics make it less of a joyride than Blanc's earlier cases. Which is perfectly fine, as the standalone nature of this franchise doesn't necessitate tonal similarities or a comedic balance at all. As well, the existence of Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne's Poker Face more than scratches the "serious + hilarious mystery" itch enough that it's not required here.

That's being objective, though, which is for the likes of logical blasphemer Benoit Blanc. Subjectively speaking, I personally wanted more laughs and merriment. But I still cannot deny that Wake Up Dead Man is a highbrow whodunnit that sets a new bar for the Knives Out franchise, as well as any other locked-room thrillers on the way, hand to God.