Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025) is Rian Johnson’s third entry in the acclaimed Knives Out series, once again following master detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) as he unravels a new labyrinthine mystery full of deceit, betrayal, and razor-sharp satire. Where Knives Out explored family greed and Glass Onion skewered tech-era hubris, this installment leans into gothic noir with a darker, moodier edge.
The film begins when Blanc is summoned to investigate a death in a wealthy Southern family whose fortune is tied to a sprawling vineyard estate with a bloody past. The victim—a charismatic but controversial patriarch—dies under suspicious circumstances on the eve of signing over control of the estate. What looks like a tragic accident quickly spirals into a tangled web of motives, secrets, and betrayals, with every member of the family (and their assorted hangers-on) hiding something.
True to Johnson’s style, the narrative structure flips expectations: the audience thinks they know who committed the crime early on, only for the story to twist into unexpected territory. Themes of legacy, morality, and the buried sins of the past are woven into the mystery, with the gothic Southern backdrop adding to the film’s eerie, moody tone.
The ensemble cast (still under wraps, though rumored to include a mix of A-list stars and character actors) delivers the trademark blend of biting comedy and melodrama, with Blanc’s witty Southern drawl once again cutting through lies with charm and precision.
As the plot thickens, the title Wake Up Dead Man becomes symbolic—suggesting both the literal mystery of a death that won’t stay buried and the figurative reckoning of characters haunted by the consequences of their actions.
The climax, in classic Knives Out fashion, is a bravura monologue from Blanc, unspooling the tangled threads of the case in a jaw-dropping reveal that reframes everything the audience thought they knew.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025) promises to be the darkest, most atmospheric entry in the series yet—still wickedly funny, but dripping with gothic style and moral weight. It cements Rian Johnson’s franchise as not just clever whodunnits, but sharp cultural commentaries dressed in the clothes of murder mysteries.