I might even like it more than the first one. Very compelling main character, unique story elements that still allude to classics of the mystery genre, some genuine things it wants to say about the power of religion and the way people can exploit it.

I feel like Rian Johnson has been hitting it out of the park with these movies. And he seems to be making new ones every 3 years for Netflix - I would be content for him to keep doing that indefinitely.

So I watched the movie last night for the first time, and I'll have to watch it at least once more or two more to really get it all.

But why does it seem like it's not as good as 1 or 2? Don't get me wrong, the third movie is entertaining, it has the twists, the acting (other than Mila Kunis) was great, and it's up there with the other two but Blanc didn't have the charm or anything like the other two movies. At least with the other two Blanc was entertaining with the other characters, he was all over trying to solve the mystery. But in the third one it felt like, "Oh yeah I'll help the priest and ah... Yeah everyone else can be over there I guess." Like it felt off but it didn't?

And Mila Kunis playing a cop was just out of left field. Every time she was on the screen it felt like she was trying so hard not to act. And it felt like she was cosplaying as a cop and I couldn't take her seriously.

I’ll start. Here’s my list:

1. Knives out (won by a mile for me)

2. Wake up dead man

3. Glass onion

The first story is still to this day one of my favourite whodunnit stories ever written, there’s just something about it that I thought was extremely clever. The twist in the end was bittersweet but it tied up the whole story nicely (I did not leave with any further questions unanswered).

I generally have a bad memory about films I don’t love and can’t remember a single thing about glass onion as I didn’t love it.

I enjoyed the newest one more than glass onion but I felt like the story fell a bit flat for me midway through till the end and it was missing a lot of shock factor in comparison to the first film.

Keen to hear what other fans think!!!

Poll

If you've seen the film, please rate it at this poll

If you haven't seen the film but would like to see the result of the poll click here

Rankings

Click here to see the rankings of 2025 films

Click here to see the rankings for every poll done

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

To be fair I'm not that online so there may be more negativity than I can see, but it seems like the film is being well received which I just can't understand. I've even seen people call this the best one.

For one thing this is easily the worst looking film out of the three, the naturalistic tones and color of the first are long absent. Glass Onion had the same issue but at least that had a lot of large set pieces and fun environments. This film, texturally speaking, is incredibly dull. This is a setting that should feel aesthetically rich, a lot of opportunities for beautiful lighting and moody tones, but it's just not there. It's incredibly bright and flat.

Secondly, the cast has never had less to do. I legitimately consider Andrew Scott one of the best actors working and he's kinda funny I guess, but him and most of the other characters are uncompelling. Jeremy Renner is already so boring and he's working with literally nothing here.

Really those two things right there are enough to kill a film for me, but also the messaging at this point has never been less compelling for reasons that are hard to articulate.

Anyways that's just how I feel.

This is the best film of the year. Went straight into my top 4. Perfectly casted, fantastic original story, and captivating performances from everyone. I saw this in a packed cinema and it was the best film I've seen in a long time. I've seen some of the great films from this year ( sinners, Begonia, One battle after another) none come close to this film. I'm happy to see that it has a 4.0 average currently. I know my opinion maybe a bit over the top but I'd love to hear your thoughts if you've seen this movie and how it lines up against other 2025 films.

Gotta say I really like this one!

Now if somebody wants to argue that the first one was better I think you have a good point. It was an excellent movie. But for me this one landed because it was more ambitious with its subject matter scope. The second one just did not hit for me, the characters were cringey, the humor missed, the whole thing was convoluted, and the ending was a rip off of Breaking Bad (S1E6) . I thought it was actually a bad movie

however with the third one the franchise is back on track in a big way. And I absolutely loved how hilarious it was. But not too much humor, just enough to lighten the mood from time to time.

And the way it dealt with faith and religion was really interesting. On the one hand you had the rationalist, scientist, down to earth, atheist inspector. Then you had the bad priest who was cultivating A cult and personal power, versus the good priest who actually wanted to serve the flock. And in all that the movie sort of explored the concept of religion and faith but it did it in a very realistic a manner without being condescending in any way I thought. Ultimately its portrayal of the good priest was honestly quite wonderful

Josh O'Connor was fantastic in the lead role, and Glenn Close was amazing as usual. Great cast and great acting all the way around. Jeffrey Wright was hilarious in a small role.

if Johnson can keep making movies in this series this good I will keep signing up for them

my only complaint really is that Hollywood never gets these right wing religious types quite right. They always come off as a caricature instead of a character. It's like they never meet or talk to these people in real life(like I and many of you have many times) so they're basing their right wing religious characters on things they read in the media instead of real people. Nevertheless it's still a great movie

To be honest with you all, it was not a grand surprise, but when Msgr. Wicks rose out of the crypt, I was caught a bit off-guard.

However, now suddenly the title (Wake Up Dead Man) hit me, and I feel a bit giddy about not having realized this while watching the movie.

Did you all figure this out before watching the movie? Or at least a few of you were in the same boat as mine?

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.

What are we thinking about this one?

I really enjoyed the first film, despised the second, the third one has the most interesting premise, but I think that it's tonally rather annoying?

Only in the first part I found the richness and complexity in portraying characters that match Christie's books which I believe is what really makes a great murder mystery.

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.

The way the movie used weather element to show how Priest Jud feels about being a Priest is really amazing. I love how the end, the source of all sins is being “consumed” by God (as believed in the Bible) and fhe violinist get back to the violin, showing that theres no streamlined solution to anything. Any little details you noticed in the movie that got you thinking? I feel like this is my fav out of all 3.

A bit late, but please discuss your thoughts on the 3rd Knives out film.

My personal take below:

1. Knives out (won by a mile for me)

2. Wake up dead man

3. Glass onion

Unlike most people who watched 1 and 2 first. 1 never watched a Knives out movie before. So i watched 2 then 3. And lastly 1. I didnt enjoy Glass Onion but the ending with explosions was spectacular. Loved WUDM but to me the Knives Out 2019 was the perfect movie for me.