Rian Johnson Archives – CULTURE MIX

Review: ‘Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,’ starring Daniel Craig, Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott and Thomas Haden Church

December 28, 2025

by Carla Hay

“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery”

Directed by Rian Johnson

Culture Representation: Taking place in Chimney Rock, New York, the comedy/drama film “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” (the third movie in the “Knives Out” series) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few black people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A controversial and domineering monsignor of a Christian church is murdered, and during the investigation, it’s revealed that several people had reasons to want him dead.

Culture Audience: “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, filmmaker Rian Johnson, the “Knives Out” franchise and murder mysteries with charismatic lead investigators.

Pictured clockwise, from left to right: Jeremy Renner, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Kerry Washington, Thomas Haden Church, Glenn Close and Daryl McCormack in “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” (Photo by John Wilson/Netflix)

“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” maintains the “Knives Out” franchise’s mix of an intriguing murder investigation with memorable characters, engaging performances and some cheeky comedy. This third movie in the series skewers fanatical worship of cult-like leaders. Although much of the mystery is set in and around a Christian church, the movie does not make any statements for or against religion but rather shows how religious beliefs (or non-beliefs) affect people in different ways.

Written and directed by Rian Johnson, “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” had its world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. The “Knives Out” movie series—which began with 2019’s “Knives Out” and continued with 2022’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”—has a different murder mystery in each movie, which features debonair American Southern gentleman Benoit Blanc (played by Daniel Craig), who is a private investigator, as the lead detective investigating the murder case. It’s eventually revealed in each “Knives Out” movie who hired Benoit for the investigation.

The “Knives Out” series is very much inspired by Agatha Christie novels (Benoit Blanc has been compared to Christie’s eccentric Belgian detective Hercule Poirot), with each investigation having several suspects, who don’t all make it out alive by the time the case is solved. And just like Christie’s novels, each “Knives Out” movie usually has some type of satire or wry observation about social class differences among the suspects. The lead investigator is also usually considered an “outsider” in the place where the investigator is doing the sleuthing.

In “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” Benoit doesn’t appear until about 40 minutes into this 144-minute movie. Instead, the movie’s first-person perspective comes from Father Jud Duplencity (played by Josh O’Connor), a Catholic priest who becomes a prime suspect in the murder of his boss: Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (played by Josh Brolin), a controversial leader of Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude Parish, located in Chimney Rock, New York. (“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” was actually filmed in Leavesden, England.)

Father Jud is the movie’s narrator. In the beginning of the movie, he explains that he was transferred from Albany, New York, to Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude after he punched a colleague named Deacon Clark (played by Kit Burden) during a fight. During a disciplinary hearing that is presided over by Bishop Langstrom (played by Jeffrey Wright), Bishop Langstrom mentions that one of the options would be to transfer Father Jud to a different parish. Father Jud pleads for mercy by saying, “The world needs love so bad. You give me one more shot, and I promise I’ll do that.”

And so, Father Jud relocates from Albany to the much smaller city of Chimney Rock. All that he knows before he gets to Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude is that it’s a parish led by Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, and the parish’s population is dwindling. When Father Jud sees Monsignor Wicks give a sermon for the first time, he finds out why people have been leaving the parish. Monsignor Wicks is a “fire and brimstone” type of preacher, who condemns almost every trivial sin while also demonstrating that he is homophobic and sexist. Several people walk out of the church before the sermon is over.

Monsignor Wicks is also a weirdo who gets pleasure from making people uncomfortable. During Father Jud’s first day on the job, Monsignor Wicks orders Father Jud to listen to Monsignor Wicks’ confessions. Monsignor Wicks then proceeds to describe how many times he masturbated since Monsignor Wicks’ previous confession. Monsignor Wicks also goes into detail about what happened during these masturbation sessions.

Father Jud doesn’t want to show too much emotion during this confession, but the expression on his face indicates that he’s shocked and somewhat disgusted. Monsignor Wicks continues to force Father Jud to listen to Monsignor Wicks’ masturbation confessions. As time goes on, Father Jud tries to make the parish a more compassionate place for parishioners, but control freak Monsignor Wicks thwarts those attempts. It isn’t long before Monsignor Wicks and Father Jud are openly arguing with each other.

Father Jud finds out that Monsignor Wicks abuses his power because Monsignor Wicks inherited this parish from his deceased grandfather Rev. Prentice Wicks (played by James Faulkner, seen in flashbacks), who founded Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude. Prentice Wicks’ daughter Grace Wicks (played by Annie Hamilton, seen in flashbacks) was a “wild child” prodigal daughter who was a single mother to Jefferson until Grace died from a brain aneurysm when Jefferson was about 4 or 5 years old. Shortly before she died, Grace had some type of emotional meltdown over something she believed her father did to hurt her, and she committed extreme vandalism in the church building.

Even though Monsignor Wicks has alienated many of his former parishioners, some have remained as his loyal followers. As expected, Monsignor Wicks wasn’t as pious and upstanding as he proclaimed himself to be to his admiring supporters, many of whom were willing to do anything for him. It’s eventually revealed that all of these parishioners could have a reason to want Monsignor Wicks dead, even though Father Jud remains the prime suspect for most of the story.

Father Jud comes under the most suspicion because he told some of the parishioners about his troubled past when he tried to connect with them in a parish outreach meeting when Monsignor Wicks was still alive. Before he became a priest, Father Jud was a boxer who killed an opponent during a boxing match. Father Jud said this killing motivated him to turn his life around and was one of the main reasons why he became a priest. Some of the parishioners also heard why Father Jud was transferred, so they wonder if Father Jud still has violent tendencies that would make him a murderer.

Monsignor Wicks dies during a church service, when he goes into a side room to start serving the communion, but he collapses and never wakes up. It’s soon revealed that he was drugged by a tranquilizer and then stabbed with a knife that has devil’s head for a handle. All of the parishioners who eventually become persons of interest were in the church when this murder happened. Father Jud was not seen for about nine seconds before Monsignor Wicks died, which is another reason why he’s the prime suspect.

These are the parishioners who are involved in the case as witnesses and possibly more:

Martha Delacroix (played by Glenn Close) is the oldest parishioner, who was part of Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude, ever since she was a girl (played by Cecilia Blair, seen in flashbacks), when Jefferson’s grandfather Prentice was the parish’s leader. Martha is the most devoted of Monsignor Wicks’ followers. She works as the parish’s office manager and was Monsignor Wicks’ personal assistant.
Samson Holt (played by Thomas Haden Church) is Martha’s husband, who adores her immensely and works as the church’s groundskeeper. Samson is a simple man who tends to go along with whatever Martha wants.
Vera Draven (played by Kerry Washington) is a shrewd and cynical attorney who has a law practice that she used to share with her deceased father. Vera, who is a bachelorette, isn’t overly religious, but she attends the church services out of a sense of duty.
Cy Draven (played by Daryl McCormack) is Vera’s adopted son. It’s mentioned early in the story that Cy is believed to actually be the illegitimate son of Vera’s father, who asked adult Vera to raise Cy as her son when Cy was an infant. Cy is a bachelor and an aspiring politician who is a conservative Republican. Cy currently makes a living as a social media influencer who discusses politics and religion.
Dr. Nat Sharp (played by Jeremy Renner) is a divorced sad sack, who is despondent because his ex-wife Darla (played by Nicola Hughes, seen in a brief flashback) left him because she thinks that he doesn’t make enough money for her. Nat is still pining over Darla and feels shame and bitterness that he is divorced.
Lee Ross (played by Andrew Scott) is a bachelor and science-fiction writer who moved to Chimney Rock from New York City about 10 years ago. Lee’s popularity as an author has been on the decline. He wrote a book called “The Holy Man and the Troubadour” about Monsignor Wicks.
Simone Vivane (played by Cailee Spaeny) is a bachelorette and “world-class cellist” who was forced to retire five years ago because of her chronic pain. Simone often uses a wheelchair. It’s hinted that her pain is psychosomatic. Simone is the biggest financial donor to Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude, but shortly before Monsignor Wicks’ death, she began to suspect he was a con artist who was cheating her out of her money.

Chimney Rock is apparently so small, the only police officer who is shown as a homicide investigator is Geraldine Scott (played by Mila Kunis), who is quick to pass judgment on people and is certain that Father Jud is guilty. And when Benoit shows up and demands that there be a thorough investigation before anyone is arrested, Geraldine predictably feels that Benoit is overstepping his bounds and interfering in her jurisdiction. Expect to see conflicts between Benoit and Geraldine.

“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” unfolds at a pace that is sometimes leisurely and sometimes rushed. Father Jud has a spirituality crisis during this investigation. He also begins to doubt his sanity. All of the parishioner characters have fairly interesting backstories, except for Samson, Lee and Simone, whose characters are underdeveloped.

“Wake Up Dead Man” gets its title because there’s a part of the story where Monsignor Wicks (who is buried in a mausoleum) is believed to have risen from the dead. This supposed resurrection increases the tension because it separates the “believers” from the “non-believers.” And there’s a persecution mentality that exists whenever someone else comes under suspicion.

More than the previous “Knives Out” movies, “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” gives a great deal of the perspective from the point of view of the prime suspect. Benoit is not a supporting character in the movie, but his relatively late arrival in the story is not typical for a murder mystery series where the lead investigator is always the star of the series. All of the cast members give skilled performances, but O’Connor and Craig get the most screen time.

“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” has the expected twists and turns in the story. And although much of the cinematography is visually striking, there are parts of the movie that look like they were filmed in front of a green screen. This artificiality can be somewhat of a distraction, but it doesn’t ruin the movie. The movie’s total runtime (144 minutes) is a little too long and would have been better served by have a shorter lead-up to Monsignor Wicks’ murder. “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” has an overly contrived ending, but this suspenseful movie is ultimately a satisfying addition to the “Knives Out” franchise.

Netflix released “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” in select U.S. cinemas on November 26, 2025. The movie premiered on Netflix on December 12, 2025.

Review: ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,’ starring Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista

November 23, 2022

by Carla Hay

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”

Directed by Rian Johnson

Culture Representation: Taking place in 2020, mostly on an unnamed island in Greece and briefly in the United States, the comedy/drama film “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some African American and Asians) portraying the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: Southern gentleman detective Benoit Blanc is invited to the private Greek island of a technology billionaire, who is hosting a murder mystery party, where at least one person gets murdered for real.

Culture Audience: “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of 2019’s “Knives Out,” star Daniel Craig, and murder mysteries that are also incisive social satires.

Edward Norton, Madelyn Cline, Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Kate Hudson, Janelle Monáe and Daniel Craig in “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Photo by John Wilson/Netflix)

Simply put: “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” is a sequel that’s better than the original movie. This comedy/drama is a fantastic follow-up to 2019’s “Knives Out,” another comedically dark murder mystery with its central location being the home of a wealthy person. Both movies, which are self-contained stories written and directed by Rian Johnson, deliciously skewer arrogant, rich elitists and other people with bad attitudes, while American Southern gentleman detective Benoit Blanc (played by Daniel Craig) solves the murder mystery. “Glass Onion” had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.

Johnson has said in many interviews that his greatest inspirations for his “Knives Out” movie series are Agatha Christie mystery novels and movie adaptations of these novels. In that respect, Benoit is like an American version of Christie’s “world’s greatest detective” Hercule Poirot from Belgium—someone who can deduce and reveal complex details and secrets about other people’s lives, but his own personal life remains a self-guarded mystery. (Craig is British in real life, but you can tell he has fun with doing a leisurely American Southern accent when he’s in the role of Benoit.)

Because the “Knives Out” movies are self-contained, it’s not necessary to see the first “Knives Out” movie to understand “Glass Onion.” However, seeing “Knives Out” can give viewers a better appreciation of how “Glass Onion” is an improvement from the first “Knives Out” movie, which is enjoyable but more predictable than “Glass Onion.” (“Knives Out” received several accolades that comedic murder mystery movies rarely receive, including an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.)

In “Glass Onion,” several people from different parts of the U.S. have each received in the mail a mysterious box from American technology billionaire Miles Bron (played by Edward Norton), a pretentious blowhard who loves to name drop and show off his wealth. Miles, a bachelor who lives alone, has made his fortune from co-founding a company called Alpha Industries. The box that he has sent contains an elaborate puzzle that reveals an invitation to go to Miles’ private island home in Greece for a murder mystery party. In the invitation, Miles says that he will play the murder victim.

Benoit is one of the people who receives this box as a mail delivery. Later, when he gets to the party, he finds out in an awkward way that Miles didn’t actually invite Benoit. But now that Benoit is at the party, Miles doesn’t want Benoit to leave, because Benoit is just another celebrity whom Miles can brag about attending one of Miles’ parties. Who sent Benoit that box? That answer is revealed in the movie.

“Glass Onion” begins on May 13, 2020—the day that the boxes are delivered. It’s just a few short months into the COVID-19 pandemic, before a vaccine was available, and when mask-wearing and social distancing were becoming a way of life for people who cared to take those precautions. Some of the party guests are more concerned about the pandemic than others.

Before going to the party, Benoit is seen having a relaxing bath at his home. He’s on a videoconference call with an eclectic group of famous friends, such as Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim (who died in 2021), classical musician Yo-Yo Ma, actress Angela Lansbury (who died in 2022), retired basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and actress Natasha Lyonne, who all make these quick cameos as themselves in the movie. It’s in this scene that viewers see that Benoit likes to play quiz games with his friends during the pandemic.

The only other peek into Benoit’s personal life is when he’s on a videoconference call with a man named Philip (played by Hugh Grant), who seems to know a lot abut Benoit and his personal life. In this scene, viewers can speculate how close Benoit and Philip are to each other and what kind of relationship they might have. Ethan Hawke makes a brief appearance in the role of an unnamed Miles Bron employee, who sprays a COVID-19 medical screener inside each guest’s mouth when they arrive at Miles’ Greek island home. The implication is that this screener can make any possible COVID-19 symptoms disappear, and Miles is so rich, he can afford this medical treatment before it’s legally sold to the public.

Miles’ party guests have been transported by a private boat to the island, whose biggest building is a high-tech mansion that Miles has named Glass Onion. The property’s centerpiece is a giant glass structure shaped like an onion and located inside a glass atrium. (The onion can also be seen as a symbol of the story’s layers that get peeled to reveal the truth. The Beatles song “Glass Onion” is played during the movie’s closing credits.) Inside this nouveau-riche home are dozens of glass sculptures and gaudy indications that Miles is a narcissist, such as a giant portrait painting of a shirtless Miles that makes his physique look more athletic than it really is.

In addition to Benoit, the other people at this party are:

Claire Debella (played by Kathryn Hahn), a progressive Democratic politician who is very image-conscious and currently running for re-election as governor of Connecticut.
Lionel Toussaint (played by Leslie Odom Jr.), an experimental scientist who has recently been testing a mystery product called Klear that Miles wants to sell, but Lionel has been warning Miles not to send this “volatile substance” on a manned airplane flight.
Birdie Jay (played by Kate Hudson), a controversial former supermodel who is now a fashion entrepreneur, who says and does racially offensive things on social media, and who is currently embroiled in a scandal about her fashion company using an exploitative sweatshop in Bangladesh.
Peg (played by Jessica Henwick), Birdie’s always-worried assistant who constantly has to clean up Birdie’s messes and prevent Birdie from doing more damage to Birdie’s reputation and career.
Duke Cody (played by Dave Bautista), a very sexist and gun-toting loudmouth who has become a famous social media influencer and “men’s rights” activist promoting the belief that men are superior to women.
Whiskey (played by Madelyn Cline), Duke’s airheaded girlfriend/social media sidekick who doesn’t seem to be doing anything with her life but being a hanger-on/gold digger/social climber.
Andi Brand (played by Janelle Monáe), Miles’ former business partner, who lost a bitter lawsuit against him, in which she claimed that she came up with most of the ideas for Alpha Industries, and she accused Miles of stealing her share of the company from her.

It’s eventually revealed in the story that Miles, Andi, Claire, Lionel, Birdie and Duke all knew each other from 10 years ago, when they were struggling to “make it” in their chosen professions. Andi was the one who introduced Miles (who was unlikable even back then) to the rest of the group. They all used to hang out at a bar called Glass Onion.

Miles is a big talker who is very good at making people believe that he’s smarter than he really is. For example, he makes up words that don’t exist. His incessant namedropping becomes an ongoing lampoon in the movie. He mentions how he got famous composer Philip Glass to write original music for him. Miles also brags about his other connections to celebrities, such as getting a personal gift from actor/musician Jared Leto and getting invited to a recent birthday party for CNN anchor Anderson Cooper.

As the story goes on, cracks begin to show in many of the party guests’ façades. Birdie wants people to think that she’s confident, but she’s actually very insecure about being perceived as unattractive and a has-been. Peg, who appears to cool-headed and logical, is actually on edge and desperate, because she has spent most of her career with loose cannon Birdie, so anything that destroys Birdie’s career will probably destroy Peg’s career too. Lionel is uncomfortable with being paid by Miles to approve this mystery product Klear that Lionel says is too dangerous to approve.

Claire, who prides herself on being a “take charge” control freak, is worried about how wild this party might get and how it could affect her reputation in this crucial election year. Duke becomes uneasy when he sees that Whiskey is openly flirting with Miles, who does nothing to stop this flirtation and seems to be enjoying it. Andi, who is the most mysterious guest, keeps her distance from the group for a great deal of the movie, and she seems to be tough-minded and occasionally rude, but her emotional vulnerabilities are eventually exposed. When Andi arrives at the island, Miles tells her that he’s surprised that she accepted the invitation.

Of course, Andi appears to be the one who has the biggest grudge against Miles. She is also different from the other guests because she was the only one who didn’t bother to figure out the box puzzle but just smashed the box instead and found the invitation. In a group of characters with larger-than-life personalities, Monáe delivers a complex performance that is one of the highlights of “Glass Onion.”

It would be revealing too much to say who actually gets murderded in “Glass Onion,” but it’s enough to say that the movie has more twists and turns and than “Knives Out.” The comedy in “Glass Onion” has much sharper edges that result in some intentionally hilarious moments. The dialogue and scenarios portray in stinging accuracy what can happen when people try to impress each other too much and wallow in self-centered pretension.

Peg and Benoit are the only people at the party who don’t show any completely obnoxious qualities, for different reasons. Peg, who seems like a decent person overall, is at the party in the capacity of being a subservient employee who’s afraid of losing her job. Benoit, as always, is a keen observer of people and doesn’t really jump into action until there’s a murder to be solved. Craig, who seems born to play the role of this sly and sarcastic private detective, has no doubt found his next big movie franchise after retiring from the role of James Bond.

Also turning in very good performances are Norton as billionaire jerk Miles and Hudson as spoiled celebrity Birdie. These two characters have some of the best lines in “Glass Onion,” which makes them the type of characters whom viewers will love to hate. However, if we’re being honest, Norton and Hudson have played these types of unlikable characters in other movies before, so people might not be as surprised by these performances. Monáe shows a range in “Glass Onion” that she hasn’t had a chance to show in her previous movies. The rest of the principal cast members in “Glass Onion” have characters that are a bit shallow and underdeveloped.

The production design of “Glass Onion” (which was filmed on location in Greece) is quite striking and has more originality than the “old money” mansion setting of “Knives Out.” Johnson’s screenplay and direction for “Glass Onion” are sharp, witty and thoroughly engaging, even when the characters are saying and doing awful things. “Glass Onion” also benefits from having less characters than “Knives Out” had, thereby making the “Glass Onion” story less cluttered than “Knives Out.” Most of all, “Glass Onion” admirably avoids one of the biggest mistakes that most movie sequels make: It doesn’t try to copy its predecessor. To put it in baseball terms: It swings big in its ambitions and hits a home run.

Netflix released “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” for a limited one-week engagement in U.S. cinemas on November 23, 2022. The movie will premiere on Netflix on December 23, 2022.