‘Wake Up Dead Man’: Newest ‘Knives Out’ Is The Best One So Far

Benoit Blanc is back and better than ever in Wake Up Dead Man, the third and comfortably best entry so far in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out anthology series.

All the things you might expect from one of these movies is here, but what makes Wake Up Dead Man the best entry in the series so far is a noticeably darker tone, knife-sharp contemporary commentary a truly sensational display of filmmaking prowess that makes it one of the best mystery movies this side of the 21st century thus far.

After a brief violent outburst, Reverend Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor) is sent to the small-town church of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), a preacher as charismatic as he is hateful. Jud, an earnest believer in the redemptive abilities of Christ, naturally butts heads with Wicks on how he preaches the gospel and tends to his close-knit “flock”.

So when Monsignor Wicks is killed in a seemingly impossible manner during a Good Friday service, perhaps it’s no surprise that Jud is the prime suspect of both churchgoers and the police. But due to the nature of the crime, legendary investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) has been called. With Jud’s help, Benoit intends to find out who was the one to snuff out Wicks’ fiery rhetoric.

Rian Johnson takes Knives Out to another level in Wake Up Dead Man

Early in Wake Up Dead Man, you’ll find it impossible to avoid noticing that this is a film with truly sensational craft. Its visual style is beautifully Gothic, accentuating the harsh architecture of the church and small town at its core, but so too is the way the camera moves. Steve Yedlin’s cinematography is kinetic yet focused, and a key part of the way that Johnson starts putting the puzzle together in front of us.

Another way that Wake Up Dead Man distinguishes itself from the other two Knives Out movies is through its structural differences. Writer/director Johnson spends the first Benoit Blanc-less 40 minutes on a searing investigation of modern American Christianity, with Jud and Wicks occupying two distinctly different ends of the spectrum.

It helps that Josh O’Connor and Josh Brolin embody this conflict through their respective characters flawlessly. We’ve been in the O’Connor renaissance for a while now, but Jud is such a fascinating character that explores the potential of faith, portrayed with remarkable sensitivity and conviction by O’Connor. Meanwhile, Brolin’s Monsignor Wicks is an awful, angry man who doesn’t even pretend to love his neighbour, with fantastic acting from the film’s other Josh.

Once Benoit Blanc does make his entrance proper, portrayed by an expectedly delightful Daniel Craig, Wake Up Dead Man thoroughly entertains as the mystery of Wicks’ death unravels. It’s the most ambitious Knives Out tale so far, but also the most rewarding: even Benoit gets an arc, and Craig looks great while delivering lines with an appropriately divine sense of inspiration.

Wake Up Dead Man‘s commentary is timely, but timless

Much like the previous films, the ensemble cast here is also fantastic. Each has a scene to absolutely make their own: Kerry Washington is mesmerising in a big reveal scene, Andrew Scott plays against type as a deeply pathetic author-turned-right-wing grifter, and Mila Kunis is surprisingly quite charming as a no-nonsense police chief.

But the best performance from the wider ensemble, and perhaps in Wake Up Dead Man as a whole, has to be Glenn Close. It’s no shock that the eight-time Academy Award nominee brings her A-game here, but Close’s performance as Martha Delacroix is nothing short of absolutely stunning, and potentially the best performance of the whole trilogy… though I can’t elaborate on why without spoilers.

Close’s performance is indicative of Wake Up Dead Man’s quality as a whole, where everything is the best a Knives Out movie has been so far. Its stellar script mixes mystery and commentary in a deeply engaging manner, assisted by drop-dead gorgeous cinematography and a sensational cast firing on all cylinders.

But what really solidifies Wake Up Dead Man as the best in this unlike franchise so far is its sense of ambition. Rather than simply resting on his laurels, Johnson has turned his critical eye to a thorny topic and explored it beautifully. It’s a movie perfect for the current moment, and its heartfelt plea for us to be more empathetic to the people around us ensures that it’ll stay relevant for years to come.

★★★★½

Wake Up Dead Man is playing in cinemas and on Netflix now. (And if you can, try see it in theatres!)