Benoit Blanc Is Back!

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery pulls Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) into his darkest case yet, summoned to a tight-knit rural community gripped by scandal after the shocking death of the fiery, domineering leader of the local Church Priest Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin).

The prime suspects are:

Rev. Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor), a troubled young priest and former boxer
Martha Delacroix ( Glenn Close), the devout widow and church pillar
Chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis), the local police head
Dr. Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), a divorced physician
Vera Draven (Kerry Washington), a slick lawyer
Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), a reclusive author
Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny), a pained former cellist
Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack), an ambitious politico
Samson Holt (Thomas Haden Church), the groundskeeper

They all weave a tense net of alibis, grudges, and histories amid Sunday services and midnight reckonings that expose abuses and shattered vows. What starts as a tidy whodunit spirals through labyrinthine twists, feints within feints, alibis that devour each other, revelations that flip loyalties upside down, and a mid-film bombshell that redefines every suspect’s soul, culminating in a finale as merciless and mind-melting as Blanc’s previous cases, all without a single predictable step. The mystery tightens around these players, pushing Blanc into moral gray zones the prior films merely grazed.

Where Knives Out skewered privilege and Glass Onion mocked tech excess, Wake Up Dead Man excavates power, belief, and institutional weapons. It plays like a gothic church whodunnit, playful and twisty, but heavier emotionally with brutal fallout when truths erupt. Classic puzzle joys (alibis, herrings, reveals) persist, yet it probes who earns forgiveness or escapes when the “godly” circle wagons.

Craig continues to have a blast as Benoit Blanc, but this time the charm and drawl hide a man genuinely shaken by what he uncovers. The case forces Blanc to confront not just who committed the crime, but what kind of world keeps letting the same patterns repeat, giving him some of his most haunted and introspective moments in the Knives Out trilogy. Yet even in the darkest scenes, Craig threads in just enough wry humor and observational wit to keep Blanc feeling like the same eccentric detective fans love, now pushed to his limits instead of simply amused by human folly.

True to the series, the ensemble is loaded with memorable suspects and side players, each with sharp, specific motives and grudges that gradually peel back as the investigation deepens. Performances bounce between fervent righteousness, brittle denial, and raw vulnerability, underscoring how faith, shame, and community pressure can twist people in different directions. The dynamic between the younger characters and the older “pillars” of the town is especially juicy, framing the mystery as a generational clash over who gets to define truth and morality. Josh O’Connor’s brooding Jud steals scenes as faith’s black sheep; Glenn Close’s Martha and Josh Brolin’s Wicks embody belief’s sharp edges.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is highly recommended for anyone who loved the first two films and is ready for a darker, more emotionally loaded spin on Blanc’s world. It keeps the clever structure, rug-pull twists, and character-driven revelations that made the other two movies a hit, while pushing deeper into messy questions about belief, justice, and who gets to walk away clean when the dust settles. You know what Bobby says:

Turn off the lights and devices,

Make some popcorn,

Grab a beverage,

and

Stream This Movie!

Knives Out

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Benoit Blanc Is Back!

New mystery, new cast, same sleuth!

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery hits Netflix this Friday, December 12, 2025, bringing Benoit Blanc back for his darkest and twistiest case yet. Daniel Craig returns as the legendary Southern sleuth, drawn into a chilling new mystery tied to a small-town church, buried sins, and a death that refuses to stay in the past. With a moodier, more gothic tone than Knives Out and Glass Onion, this new chapter promises razor-sharp turns, rich atmosphere, and the kind of slow-burn suspense that’s perfect for a December movie night.

Joined by a stacked ensemble cast—including Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, and more—Blanc finds himself surrounded by liars, believers, and survivors, each hiding something worth killing for. As secrets rise to the surface and loyalties splinter, the question isn’t just who did it, but what waking the dead will cost everyone involved. Queue it up on Netflix this Friday and let the guessing game begin.