Rian Johnson has slowly honed his craft of creating compelling murder mysteries since the release of Knives Outin 2019. Since then, the director has continued to tell engaging, timely, and complex stories that always have a mystery at their center for Daniel Craig‘s Benoit Blanc to investigate. Pairing the detective with a new and eclectic cast of characters every time, the formula makes Netflix’s Knives Out series feel like it could go on forever. Now, Blanc is back with another new mystery to solve in Wake Up Dead Man.
While 2019’s Knives Out examined upper-class white family dynamics and classism and 2022’s Glass Onion featured a deconstruction of the myth and false image of most uber-wealthy and influential people, Wake Up Dead Man tackles a much heavier subject: faith. At the heart of this latest Benoit Blanc mystery is Reverend Jud Duplenticy, a young priest sent to a church where the congregation puts their faith in the charismatic Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) rather than God. When Wicks is murdered, all the blame is pointed at Jud and his intense relationship with the Monsignor. Thus begins a film whose seemingly impossible crime serves as a meditation on belief and the idea that storytelling might be the most powerful thing there is.
‘Wake Up Dead Man’ Is a Testament to the Power of Storytelling
As he was vocal about the inspirations behind Knives Out and Glass Onion, Johnson also discussed what inspired Wake Up Dead Man. Specifically, the “locked door mystery” format is what drives Wake Up Dead Man the most — the type of crime committed in a way that seems impossible, with the victim being behind a proverbial “locked door” where it looks like no one could have reached him at the time of the murder. That setup, paired with the dark story about Wicks’ mother, Grace (referred to in the film as “the Scarlet woman”), who trashed the church in anger after never receiving the inheritance she was promised, results in a fascinating story with more twists and turns than any other mystery Johnson has made thus far.
It’s the impossibility of the case that forces the cast of characters to examine their own perceptions of faith, or lack thereof. All the Knives Out films have had an interesting structure up to this point, but it’s Wake Up Dead Man that takes the most fascinating angle by not introducing Blanc until after the first act. Instead, O’Connor’s character Duplenticy narrates the opening of the movie, introducing Wicks’ close circle of supporters and the days leading up to the murder (which occurred on Palm Sunday) and several days afterward. Viewers are led to believe it was someone in the congregation who committed the seemingly impossible crime, as Duplenticy recounts his version of events to Blanc in a written account.
Storytelling is the big thematic throughline that cracks the case wide open for Blanc towards the end of Wake Up Dead Man. During Blanc’s first encounter with Duplenticy, the two have a lively discussion about religion and the power of belief, with Blanc ostracizing religious institutions and their abuses of power. However, O’Connor’s character sees it differently, comparing his faith to stories people tell themselves, choosing to believe in them to provide comfort or uplift spirits when they need it most.
When it’s revealed who killed Wicks (as well as who was responsible for the character’s miraculous resurrection towards the end of the movie), it turns out that it was just another narrative that was trying to be created by one character, in a vain attempt to keep the illusion of a healthy church and its leader intact.
The Abuse of Power in Religious Institutions Is at the Heart of ‘Wake Up Dead Man’
As it turns out, it was Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close) who was responsible for Wicks’ death and the staging of his supposed resurrection from the tomb. Blanc initially feigns defeat before the congregants and claims the case is unsolvable, but it’s all done to show grace to Delacroix, who returns privately to the church to confess her sins to Duplenticy and reveal herself as the killer. It’s revealed that the night the Scarlet woman desecrated the church, it wasn’t out of religious spite, but because she discovered the inheritance she was promised (in the form of a jewel dubbed Eve’s apple) was hidden somewhere in the building.
Only Delacroix knows that the original Father Wicks swallowed the diamond to keep it from “corrupting” his daughter, something that she confesses to him in an attempt to prove to Duplenticy that Wicks actually cares. However, when she discovers that he plans to open the tomb and take the jewel, she plots to murder him to “preserve” his image before he is corrupted by greed. She recruits her groundskeeper husband, Samson (Thomas Haden Church), and congregant Dr. Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner) to do the deed, with the former pretending to be Wicks rising from the grave, and the latter swapping a fake knife planted by Delacroix with a real knife into Wicks’ body (explaining the “impossible” murder). However, Sharp ends up consumed by greed and kills Samson so he can take the diamond, before Delacroix eventually poisons and kills him.
After finishing her confession and telling her story, it’s revealed that Delacroix took the rest of the poison that she had given Sharp. Duplenticy holds her in his arms as she asks for forgiveness, and eventually even lets go of her hatred for Grace (the Scarlet woman) and empathizes with what she went through. Wake Up Dead Man ends with Duplenticy taking over the church and hiding the diamond that Delacroix left him inside a newly built wooden cross, a part of the church that had been largely absent for the entirety of the film. A new, genuine kind of faith has taken over the church that the corrupt Wicks once ruled, ending the movie on a bright note.
‘Wake Up Dead Man’ Challenges Viewers To Examine What Stories and Beliefs They Put Stock In
Rian Johnson described Wake Up Dead Man as the darkest Benoit Blanc mystery yet, and for good reason. The film features the most casualties of the trilogy. Also, it addresses a heavy subject: how religious institutions’ abuses of power can corrupt those who put their faith in them. The power of belief can be just as dangerous as it can be beautiful, as it led to the demise of characters like Samson, who blindly put his faith in his wife Delacroix. However, Duplenticy’s genuine faith and immense care for the congregants are what lead to Delacroix’s confession, so the movie isn’t entirely critical of the Church.
Wake Up Dead Man features both negative and positive depictions of faith, but it isn’t divine intervention that solves the case. It’s Blanc’s cold reasoning, the deconstruction of past traumas, and the revelation of human corruption that ultimately reveal the ugly truth. Loyalty and belief in the mystique of individuals, rather than the ideals they are supposed to uphold, can lead people down a dark road. Much like actual religions, Wake Up Dead Man doesn’t offer definitive answers to these moral conundrums, but allows viewers to reach their own conclusions after Blanc solves the grisly murders. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is in select theaters now and streaming on Netflix on December 12, 2025.
- Release Date
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November 26, 2025
- Runtime
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140 minutes
