I'm not sure if I'm jumping the gun here since the movie just came out last night and there will probably be an official thread soon but I just saw it a couple hours ago and I'm dying to see some discussion about it. Really adored this one; much better than Glass Onion and honestly might surpass the first on rewatch. It's a lot more centered on its central character (Josh O'Connor's, not Benoit) than the previous entries and I think that narrower focus gave it a much richer emotional and thematic core. There is still at least one "contemporary conservative" caricature but the film doesn't really beat you over the head with its satire like Glass Onion did, which was a much needed change of pace. Its critique and reflections on religion didn't come off as heavy-handed at all and I thought it was much more nuanced and compelling than the "eat-the-rich" stories of the previous entries (although I still adore the first film). The only thing is that a lot of the suspect-list is underutilized (don't expect much from Andrew Scott for example) but the characters that do get the spotlight make it feel worth it.

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Summary Detective Benoit Blanc returns to solve his most dangerous case yet. Set against a darker backdrop than his previous investigations, the mystery pulls Blanc into a web of secrets, betrayal, and buried sins where every suspect has something to hide—and the truth may come at a deadly cost.

Director Rian Johnson

Writer Rian Johnson

Cast

• Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc

• Josh O’Connor

• Glenn Close

• Josh Brolin

• Mila Kunis

• Jeremy Renner

• Kerry Washington

• Andrew Scott

• Cailee Spaeny

• Daryl McCormack

• Thomas Haden Church

Rotten Tomatoes: 92%

Metacritic: 81

VOD / Release On Netflix

Trailer Official Trailer

World-renowned detective Benoit Blanc returns for his most dangerous case yet.

Director: Rian Johnson

Cast: Daniel Craig, Cailee Spaeney, Jeremy Renner, Andrew Scott, Mila Kunis, Thomas Haden Church, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Kerry Washington, Josh O'Connor

Rotten Tomatoes: 100%

Metacritic: 85/100

Some Reviews:

Variety - Owen Glieberman

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is an enticingly clever and droll, nearly pitch-perfect piece of murder-mystery fun — a whodunit that lives up to the expectations set six years ago by “Knives Out,” which offered its own perfect revival of the Agatha Christie spirit, with a tasty frosting of meta cheekiness.

TheWrap - Chase Hutchinson

Although “Wake Up Dead Man” is the “Knives Out” movie that’s most preoccupied with existential questions surrounding death, writer/director Rian Johnson’s third film in the series is also the one that’s most full of life.

DEADLINE - Damon Wise

After the bright, light, summery holiday special that was Glass Onion, the Knives Out franchise returns to its gothic roots with a wintry whodunit that, for some at least, might endure as the the best one yet. Where the first and second used the murder-mystery as a jumping-off point for some very funny contemporary satire, Wake Up Dead Man is much more introspective. In a funny way, it’s a little analogous to Joker 2, not because it unloads on its audience in the same acerbic way but because it poses similarly metaphysical questions about its own popularity. Why do people respond so eagerly to stories of murder and betrayal? To answer that, director Rian Johnson goes back to the greatest story ever told, using a small religious community as the setting for the third instalment.

IndieWire - Kate Erbland - 'B+'

It works, and it’s no big mystery why — Johnson knows his form and format, and delivers on it, playing with tone and message but never losing sight of why these stories are so damn entertaining to watch and unravel.

Awards Radar - Joey Magidson - 3.5 / 4

Filmmaker Rian Johnson trusts the strength of his franchise to play around with format and theme. The gothic elements on display, as well as the religious aspect, may initially seem like a left turn, but it all ends up fitting like a glove. He knows the must haves for a Knives Out flick and absolutely delivers. A few big sequences here at TIFF received ovations once completed. You just can feel that you’re in the hands of a master storyteller, so you’ll follow him anywhere. Johnson knows that and 100% makes the most of it.

The Daily Beast - Nick Schager

In terms of pure, heady kicks, it outpaces Knives Out but falls just short of Glass Onion. In the big picture, however, such distinctions are rather inconsequential; more important is that Johnson’s franchise remains a sly and sure-footed delight, as well as demonstrates, with its religiously minded latest, that it’s capable of coloring its Christie-esque mysteries in a variety of shades.