TIFF 2025: ‘Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery’ Suffocates A Promising Whodunit

Now, on its third entry with Wake Up Dead Man, Rian Johnson’s Knives Out saga appears to have settled on a winning formula: manufacture a pulpy whodunnit defined by sheer star power and wry wisecracks. It’s a setup that feels purpose-built to appeal to the widest set of moviegoers, offering not only a backdrop for seasoned performers to chew the scenery but also to bask in a series of sardonic, yet atmospheric, thrills.

Yet, with Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, Johnson overplays the series’s signature hand to a fault. In banking so much of its genre exercise on setups and backstories to justify its backlog of recognizable personalities, the central mystery suffocates before it can even get started.

Ditching the sights and sounds of a lavish island compound for a diminishing catholic congregation, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery opens with an extended prologue narrated by the charismatic Rev. Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor).  He’s been commissioned to help inject purpose and grace into the more domineering and hard-nosed sermons conducted by Monsignor Jefferson Wick (Josh Brolin).

The flagging church has driven away most attendees, with only a handful of regulars keeping the altar lit. Among them are lawyer Vera Draven (Kerry Washington), her son Cy (Daryl McCormack), author Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), disabled cellist Simone (Cailee Spaeny), Dr. Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), groundskeeper Samson (Thomas Hayden Church), and lastly, Wick’s most devout parishioner, Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close).

Misplaced comedic attempts and its unbalanced tone snuff the mystery out before it begins.

The film’s first 45 minutes rapidly sifts through motivations and conflicts in an attempt to seamlessly deepen its characters. Yet, despite its charm, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery plays like a glorified sitcom, riddled with stilted voice-overs, awkward flashbacks, and cloying remarks that grasp for the lowest-hanging comedic fruit.

Trite cultural references and tired political barbs smother any sense of intrigue that its impending whodunit attempts to foster. As a result, its rogues gallery of caricatures feels more one-note and inconsequential by the minute—especially as their backstories are lazily divulged.

Such effects also undermine the film’s layered approach to religion as both an exclusionary and comforting institution, particularly in a chilling sequence that examines how the internet, and its endless series of echo chambers, can spearhead religious extremism.

Yet, without the presence of organic relationships and compelling characters, clever insight and empathy quickly seep out of the frame. It all works to dilute the rest of the twists, turns, and tirades that come to define the experience, especially when Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) enters the fray, and the whodunnit narrative frame is permitted to begin.

Despite its strong cast, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery grossly underutilizes its characters.

Although after a key figure bites the dust and all blame is cast on Jud, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery does slightly come into its own and finally embraces its Agatha Christie-tinted roots. But with such a creaky foundation underpinning the shocks and reveals, the central mystery labours to build momentum and leave a lasting impact.

Even Craig’s now-iconic Blanc feels oddly muted and stifled. Despite a charming reel of gags and one-liners (the best of which is a particularly well-timed “Scooby-dooby-doo”), Blanc falls flat as a driving character.  In a film grappling with religion and running a beefy 144-minute runtime, it’s expressly odd that Johnson doesn’t take the time to explore how Blanc’s queer sexuality may factor into his emotional mindset. Like Washington, Scott, and Spaeny, Craig is criminally wasted as set dressing.

It’s a wonder then that O’Connor is given enough space to imbue his character with a lived-in feel. Armed with wit and compassion, O’Connor especially excels in a moment where his priest comforts a woman who just needs someone to talk to. It’s the lone scene that feels natural and animated in its progression, layered with enough earned sentiments to make audiences emotionally invest in the mystery rather than the fleeting thrills of a last-minute reveal.

As it stands, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery feels trapped in a liminal space between being memorable and forgettable. While the mechanics of a great whodunit are there, it lacks the soul and spirit required to make its shocks resonate. It misses the true meal for the crumbs.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery played as part of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. The film will arrive in select theaters on November 26 and on Netflix on December 12.