Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025) Review

https://youtu.be/0hc8yz5-d5Y?si=K8C4dZONUlpu9ZsC

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Sometimes, the right thing might not involve use of the truth. 


PLOT


Wake Up Dead Man is the second Knives Out film to be produced by Netflix. The story follows boxer turned Catholic priest Jud Duplenticy who is transferred to a New York parish following a dispute with another deacon. His new superior is the Monsignor Jefferson Wicks. From the time he’s spent with him, he’s learned that the latter was amassed a small fortune by his grandpa Prentice (James Faulkner), but it went missing around the time his unstable mother Grace (Annie Hamilton) ransacked the church. Jud has grown to dislike the monsignor’s reign since each of his sermons are so incendiary that they push away most people. Apart from the longtime secretary Martha Delacroix and groundskeeper Samson Holt, the most loyal parishioners happen to be: local doctor Nat Sharp who suffers from alcoholism following his divorce, author Lee Ross who hopes to write another best seller, disabled cellist Simone Vivane who prays to be healed from her injuries, lawyer Vera Draven who tightly wound due to raising her adoptive son Cy, the latter who aspires to be a political & conservative influencer. He is so disdained over him that he tries holding his own prayer meeting behind his back which doesn’t work. On a Good Friday service does Wicks collapse and is found dead from a knife with a devils head finial. Because Jud actually threatens him the day before and drunkenly stole one of the finials from a bar, he is deemed a main suspect. This leads to Chief Geraldine Scott summing detective Benoit Blanc to investigate. When meeting Jud does he ask for his assistance as he does believe in his assistance. After Jefferson has an entombment in the mausoleum of Prentice do they question the congregation and they admit the Monsignor told them he’s found his fortune and plans to use it to pursue in politics with his illegitimate son Cy. They were going to start this career path together when the latter exposing secrets to everyone online, publicly shaming them all. Jud would choose to step away from the investigation when growing tired of Blanc being singularly focused on the murder & fortune. As he heads back to the mausoleum does he believe to be Jefferson break out of his grave and embrace Samson. As he rushes to them does he get knocked out and wake up next to Samson’s corpse, believing himself to be responsible. He almost turns himself in until Blanc stops him and takes him to Nat’s house, where they find Doctor Sharp dissolving in an acid tub containing the monsignor’s body. By next morning, Scott and the remaining parishioners demand a confession from Jud only for Blanc to believe Nat was the perpetrator. He shares his theory that he had an accomplice to spike him with sedatives and stab him when he collapsed on Good Friday. He stops explaining the theory however when having an epiphany that can’t explain the rest. As everyone leaves, Blanc tells Jud he was inspired by his example to let the real killer come forward. Martha would end up being the confess her long motive overtime: She has been secretary with Jefferson was a child and knew Prentice converted his fortune into the Diamond, Eve’s Apple, and she saw him die swallowing it to keep Grace from inheriting it. She kept this secret until inadvertently telling Jefferson at her last confession, mistaking to have spoken to Jud at the time. Terrified what the Monsignor would do with it, she conspired with Nat and Samson to get it before him. Sharp was indeed the one to have sedated & stabbed Wicks and it was Samson who took his place in the entombment hoping to take Eve’s Apple. He does find it, but when breaking out of the mausoleum to stage a resurrection that’ll preserve the church’s reputation as well the monsignor’s. Nat would also dress as Samson when waiting outside, but seeing Jud outside did lead to him killing the groundskeeper to keep the jewel for himself. He lies to Martha of what happened, but she sees through his lies and chooses to poison him with pentobarbital that he planned to use on her, avenging the one person she loved. At the end of the confession does she admit to have taken the poison and asks for forgiveness while holding the jewel in her hand. Jud absolves her before she draws her last breath. A year goes by after this investigation and Jud plans to reopen the church with a new crucifix after Grace destroyed the original long ago. Although the rest of the parishioners have gone on with their lives, Cy is certain Jud has Eve’s Apple and plans to closely monitor his finances for any trace of it. As new parishioners enter first mass does the film end with the reveal with the jewel being concealed within the new crucifix.


THOUGHTS


If there is one thing Rian Johnson has proven in recent memory, he is a master of modern whodunnits and he proves it for the third time in a row as a writer and director. The returning combination of Steve Yedlin’s cinematography & (Rian’s cousin) Nathan Johnson’s score is so well done together because you can still feel a new form of endless tension that becomes relieving when the case is solved. I definitely felt a big connection to the first film where death is centered on the greed of maintaining a public image and the desperation of achieving wealth that doesn’t belong to anyone. The fact this is a dynamic involving a priest and a group of followers who are loyal for their own gain does come to show even following someone has a cost. Seeing it all fall apart for everyone does teach the lesson that it’s better to have faith as a tool to heal rather than a weapon of mass destruction. If you can pull that off, then you can better of the whole nine yards that are mercy, forgiveness and empathy that are more valuable than dogma. When following around the whole ensemble, I think you can find the content that is meant from forgiveness. From the beginning though, it can still feel like a surprise there are people of faith that become tyrants with their words. Josh Brolin is all that as Jefferson Wicks because he loved getting a reaction out of anyone willing to listen. The big difference he has from Harlan Thrombey is that he’s past teaching lessons and is all about leaving people powerless when cutting his ties, completely egotistical about it. Little did he think he’d create a Judas on his way out. Glenn Close was remarkable as Martha because she takes her devout so far that she regrets the end result. She didn’t want to kill anyone, but she felt she had to for the sake of what she thought was maintaining order, which became her flaw thinking she was better than everyone. Thomas Haden Church did make us respect Samson in his given time because his naivety makes it hard to hate him down the line. His loyalty was valid for him to side with Martha because she helped him get sober which is enough for him to make his choices. It must have surprised him on what she planned, but did it because he understood where she was coming from. Sadly, his loyalty took his life just as it took hers. I did think it was hilarious how Jeremy Renner went from having a fake sponsor in Glass Onion to playing a completely different character here. Nat is much different of his past roles because this is a guy whose actions come from such selfish depression. He has the right to be upset of his wife leaving him, but killing a guy for his wealth don’t validate you. His motive comes from not wanting anyone to know he’s drinking on the job, which is enough to express how far he’s stooped, which adds up why he would attempt double cross. Maybe if he killed Martha first, he likely would’ve gotten away with everything. Andrew Scott was also entertaining as Lee Ross because he’s bitter about his writers block and can’t stand how he can’t relate to his audience, thus piggybacking off of Wicks to build the hit he always wanted. With a motive like that, that does back why he’d be a suspect. Cailee Spaeny is definitely a more neutral character as Simone because she too wants to be back at her prime but it is in denial that some things cannot be bought having been a big donor to the church, which is enough motive for her too. Besides them, the biggest motive goes to Vera because Kerry Washington showed she has this fair resentment towards her family that she had to hold back on her aspirations to raise someone who would never appreciate her and despise Wicks’ hypocrisy that he would condemn unwed mothers only for him to conceive Cy via one night stand. Enter Daryl McCormack who felt like a bigger compared to Lee because he’s far more calculated about it, which is something he instantly learns from his birth father. The fact Vera had no control over him on what he posts proves he’s forever bound to be just as bold as him when it comes to pushing boundaries. I’m honestly surprised he didn’t create a true motive to take the diamond from him for himself because he wouldn’t have to wait to inherit the whole thing rather than share. At the very least, he’ll never get his hands on it as long as it remains hidden. And because his grandpa takes him fully under his wing, Vera doesn’t have to deal with him anymore and get to live as she pleases. With such conflicted people, it’s always a relief that there is one full of sincerity no matter the obstacles. That is why I enjoy Josh O’Connor very much as Jud because he’s all about wanting to eliminate his impulse. He thought boxing was his solution to cope with his anger, until religion became his second calling. Needless to say, he reached his expectations because no matter all the things that have troubled him, he grew to hold his ground in a restraint manner by being capable of absolving all those who sin. This does back why Bishop Langstrom (Jeffrey Wright) assigned him to Wicks, knowing his service would do better in a place that needs more saving than ever. Last but not least, for a franchise there is always a big constant and in this case, there is a detective that still puts the pieces together for some form of solution. Daniel Craig is still a big standout leading this whodunnit ensemble because what’s done different this time as Benoit Blanc is how his cynicism being a non believer is what draws him to the case and it is his past experiences of empathy that make him side with Jud. He does deduce Nat’s involvement, but he waits for Martha to confess because he wants her to have closure for once. This does lead to him and Jud hiding the jewel because despite the way she went about it, they were self aware that nobody truly deserved to have it hence leaving it hidden. If there is a heaven, I’d like to believe Martha is smiling knowing they’d do what she would’ve gotten to do had she had more time. Last but not least, I also enjoyed Mila Kunis as Geraldine because although she prefers being by the book, she also takes advantage of being resourceful hence allowing Blanc to do things his way which is a big difference she has from Lieutenant Elliot. Knowing how serious she remains with her job, I’m sure she’d collect the diamond as evidence but I’d still respect that decision because it would her intent to keep it out of the wrong hands. I liked this movie a lot, but there were still some confusing moments that make me prefer the predecessors. For instance, it’s very much on Jud to have a secret prayer meeting knowing Wicks would lose it and Martha would snitch on him. And Geraldine should’ve not let him in the autopsy room if he’s a suspect. Personally, Vera should’ve just outed Wicks publicly instead of privately because it would’ve been harder for him to protect his image at that point. It’s also odd of Blanc to touch the basement railing without a glove. If he’s a detective, that’s the first thing he should’ve done when entering the house and should’ve gave a pair to Jud since he’s sure of his innocence. Lastly, I don’t think it was a good idea Prentice should’ve let Martha see him swallow the diamond if he didn’t want anyone to find it. There even should’ve been a red flag for Samson being absent at the entombment which Blanc should’ve pointed out. Ignore these flaws, then you can still identify Wake Up Dead Man as an excellent Knives Out Mystery for being more thought provoking than the rest. If you got Netflix and the previous entries made you interested in whodunnits? See this now.