Wake Up Dead Man may be the most convoluted and intricately woven of all the "Knives Out" mysteries so far, and I mean that as a compliment. Writer/director Johnson has set a formula for his twisty series of whodunits. They must be unrealistically complex, critiquing American capitalist and classist structure, featuring a dream cast, and yet all come together so flawlessly its a wonder we didn't see it all along. His Benoit Blanc is not just a Poirot clone, he has his own eccentricities and characteristics, including a lovely sense of empathy and heart which is at the centre of these stories. Wake Up takes this to a new level and praise be fans are in for another wonderful ride.
As a mystery Wake Up will keep you guessing until the end but like with Knives and Glass Onion, that's just a part of the joy of these films. It is also the characters and the lessons we learn along the way. O'Connor takes on the centre role that de Armas and Monáe did in the previous instalments. His story is a fascinating one playing a deeply drawn character with a satisfying journey to go on. He is surrounded by another batch of great characters played by a terrific cast of actors.
For me, while I enjoyed the puzzle aspect of the film, I enjoyed how much Craig and Johnson focus on the character of Blanc and have developed him so wonderfully. I also really enjoy the themes being explored here around faith and corruption which I can't go into without spoiling things. In someways, Blanc was introduced to us in Knives Out as a clever, eccentric, fun character there to resolve for us the complexities of the social commentary Johnson wanted to tell with his (not so) little mystery. But he has grown over the following films into a fascinating character in himself, while remaining the foil to the flawed America his stories reveal so effectively.
Wake Up Dead Man
Starring: Daniel Craig, Josh O'Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, Thomas Haden Church, Jeffrey Wright, Bridgett Everett, Noah Segan, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Writer/Director: Rian Johnson
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