January 20, 2026 – I am a big fan of the “Knives Out” mystery films, but was disappointed by the second one (“Glass Onion” in 2022). This third movie, “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” (available on Netflix) makes up for it. It is almost as good as the first film (released in 2019). Taken as a whole, this three film series is an extraordinary genre achievement for writer-director Rian Johnson.

Much like the other Knives Out films, this latest one features a rogues gallery of suspects, all of whom had their own motives to kill the first victim, a controversial religious figure, Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (played by Josh Brolin of “Weapons”). Rather than preaching love, Wicks preaches division and hatred. He has a small, but loyal following at the small town Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude parish. He habitually targets individual parishioners for criticism during sermons, causing them to walk out.

Like many other murder mysteries, this one also has a treasure story, a vast amount of money that disappeared years before, when Reverend Prentice Wicks, the grandfather of Jefferson Wicks, was still the parish priest at Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude. One person connected to both Prentice Wicks and his grandson, Jefferson, is the elderly parish secretary Martha Delacroix (played by Glenn Close of “The Wife”) who was a young girl when Jefferson died.

The story is told through the words of a young priest, Jud Duplenticy (Josh O'Connor of “Challengers”) who is assigned to the parish by Bishop Langstrom (Jeffrey Wright of “The Phoenician Scheme”) after getting into trouble because of his short temper and deadly fists. Circumstantial evidence makes Jud the perfect fall guy for Wicks' murder, but master detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, reprising his role from the first two movies) doesn't buy this theory of the case.

Blanc is attracted to the case because it is a by-the-book “locked door mystery” murder, a kind of nearly perfect crime that is very difficult to solve. Because of Blanc's reputation, Police Chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis of “Jupiter Ascending”) allows him to consult on the case. The problem is that Blanc and Jud don't get along because Jud is a man of faith and Blanc is an atheist.

Despite their differences, Jud realizes that Blanc just wants to find the truth. Sifting through the evidence, they find library books near the murder scene, murder mysteries that Blanc says are “ ... practically a syllabus for how to commit this crime.” The books include “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “The Murder at the Vicarage” and “The Hollow Man” (1935) which includes an oft-cited lecture explaining closed door murder methods.

Jud and Blanc keep digging and find more clues to the murder More murders provide more clues. Jud eventually even believes that he is a murderer himself, but Blanc remains convinced Jud is not the killer. Eventually, Blanc solves the murder, but out of respect for Jud's beliefs, he allows the killer to confess, rather than to publicly reveal everything to all the suspects.

The murder suspects all have their own reasons to hate Wicks, including the town doctor Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner of “Wind River”) unfairly burdened lawyer Vera Draven (Kerry Washington of “Django Unchained”) her ambitious conservative influencer, adopted son, Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack of “Twisters”) disabled cellist Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny of “Alien: Romulus”) who has reason to believe Wicks has swindled her.

A couple of religious themes are baked into the plot as well, the legend of the “shameful sin of the harlot whore” (Grace Wicks, played by Annie Hamilton in flashback scenes). Grace ransacked the church after her father, Jefferson Wicks, died and did not leave her the large fortune promised her. The other legend is that of “Eve's Apple,” the fortune that Grace Wicks, and others wanted to possess, and are corrupted by it. The murder weapon that killed Wicks was made from knife with a devil's head ornament on the hilt.

Jud and Blanc also debate each other on the subject of religion during the course of the investigation. There are those in the film who have religious faith, including Jud, Martha and Vivane. Another character who plays a key role in this story is a longtime friend of Martha's, parish groundskeeper Samson Holt (Thomas Haden Church of “Sideways”).

This is a long movie at nearly two and a half hours, but it held my interest throughout because of the mystery and the talented actors who help create such fascinating characters. The story itself is a bit beyond belief because it requires too many coincidences in order to work, and in order to make Jud such a perfect fall guy for the murders. In the end, the mystery becomes less so because several suspects are killed. This movie rates a B+.

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