In Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, the sequel to Glass Onion (2022), Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor), a former boxer-turned-Catholic priest in upstate New York, is reprimanded for punching a deacon.

His punishment feels more like a timeout: he’s reassigned as assistant pastor to a dwindling rural parish, Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude. The pastor in charge is Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) — a foul-tempered, irksome man of God more interested in drinking and driving his few followers towards an early grave, albeit not literally.

The regulars include Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close), a devout church fanatic (in the worst way possible) and Wicks’ diligent secretary; Dr Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), a local physician driven into alcoholism due to being a widower; Vera Draven (Kerry Washington), a lawyer quietly seething towards a reckoning; Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack), her adoptive son, a failed, aspiring politician who now vlogs; Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), a best-selling sci-fi novelist who has lost his spark; Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny), a disabled concert cellist; and Samson Holt (Thomas Haden Church), the groundskeeper and Martha’s lover.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is never dull, thanks to engaging characters, a sufficiently baffling whodunnit and top-notch performances

Yes, it’s a strange bunch. Everyone is teetering on the edge, oddly united and perpetually at odds. This may sound contradictory, but it’s what makes the film work. They gather, bicker and soon find themselves — along with the young assistant pastor Jud — caught up in the mystery of the dead Pastor Wicks.

Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), a private detective sporting a hard Kentucky drawl, arrives around the story’s midpoint and appears to be having the time of his life. Blanc remains a brilliant detective, though the local police chief, Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis), is an obligatory, throwaway placeholder.

The mystery, once unravelled, may feel a touch straightforward — but then again, most mysteries do once the curtain lifts on the culprit. Wake Up Dead Man is no exception.

Writer-director Rian Johnson continues to create a fine series. If Glass Onion were “a space-filler adventure”, its sequel returns closer to the pedigree established by the original. Johnson writes dialogue that seems to be right out of a good novel; the screenplay — or novelisation, written by Johnson — would make for a cracking read.

At nearly two-and-a-half hours, the film is lengthy but never dull. The characters are engaging, the whodunnit is sufficiently baffling, and the performances — particularly those of Craig, O’Connor, Close and Brolin — are top-notch. Here’s hoping the next entry is just as enjoyable.

Streaming on Netflix, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is rated suitable for ages 16 and up, and features a few deaths without gore or gruesomeness

Published in Dawn, ICON, December 21st, 2025