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Wake Up Dead Man delivers another elaborate Knives Out mystery, surrounding viewers with enough suspects, hidden clues and shifting revelations to keep the truth concealed until the film’s closing minutes.
Josh O’Connor stars as Father Judd, a former boxer who became a priest. His temper quickly lands him in trouble: After punching another clergyman and breaking his jaw during a disagreement, Judd is reassigned to a small parish as punishment.
There, he serves alongside Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, played by Josh Brolin. Wicks exercises an almost cult-like hold over his congregation, preaching messages of exclusion and hatred that clash sharply with Judd’s beliefs.
As the tension between the priests intensifies, attendance at the church plunges. Only a small, devoted group remains, creating the central pool of suspects. The film also explores Wicks’ history and church secretary Martha Delacroix’s connection to the parish, details that eventually become crucial to the mystery.
The central crime follows a particularly exhausting sermon. Wicks withdraws into a small, open storage closet while Judd takes over the service. Within minutes, the proceedings are interrupted when Wicks collapses and dies.
Daniel Craig returns as investigator Benoit Blanc, who must determine how the seemingly impossible killing occurred while responding to an aftermath that keeps changing around him.
The film invites viewers to investigate alongside Blanc, placing important visual and auditory evidence in plain sight without drawing too much attention to it. Many clues needed to understand Wicks’ death appear clearly on screen, yet remain subtle enough to be easily overlooked.
At times, the number of interlocking mysteries becomes difficult to process. Still, that density keeps the story engaging and gives its central puzzle additional layers.
Despite occasionally taking on too much, Wake Up Dead Man succeeds as a complicated, interactive and highly entertaining whodunit. Craig, O’Connor and Brolin give particularly strong performances, while the carefully constructed screenplay withholds just enough information to sustain the suspense.