Wake Up Dead Man
Directed by Rian JohnsonWhen young priest Jud Duplenticy is sent to assist charismatic firebrand Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, it’s clear that all is not well in the pews. After a sudden and seemingly impossible murder rocks the town, the lack of an obvious suspect prompts local police chief Geraldine Scott to join forces with renowned detective Benoit Blanc to unravel a mystery that defies all logic.
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Wake Up Dead Man Ratings & Reviews
- parktool69December 15, 2025perfect as always
- Lorenzo Costa7h agoBoring and long, dreadful and uninspiring. With the most cringe and useless accent from the detective. Just horrendous
- BostonDecember 21, 2025I really wish there was an app where we could talk about Jeremy Renner being in this
- Seabee4uu5d agoBlasphemously funny murder investigation. Very interesting cast. A bit long though but still well worth the watch. 3.5 Hail Marys.
- cultfilmlikerDecember 5, 2025Jeremy Renner playing himself was rough to watch. Fitting way for his career to end 🤞 Where could they possibly have gotten the inspiration for this man and his followers?? The amount of blackmail he has on everyone is just too real Fun to see the who but slowly discover the ‘why!’ Masterful work by Rian. Was delighted to see Bridget Everett! After seeing Jeff Hiller in Plur1bus, i am just glad Somebody, Somewhere didn’t die in vain! That tree was fucking goofy lol They’re definitely gonna find that fucking diamond if you guys keep hiding it in plain sight!! Watched at Boulevard Theatres in Old Town
- ShaydeknightDecember 13, 2025This film is a great watch. It's confident, engaging, and a welcome reaffirmation that the modern whodunnit still has plenty of life left in it. It stands shoulder to shoulder with Knives Out and is markedly stronger than Glass Onion, which veered too far into silliness for its own good. Daniel Craig continues to do excellent work with Benoit Blanc, both in terms of performance and character consistency. Blanc remains an entertaining presence, but it is worth noting that, as a detective, he is fundamentally different from figures like Holmes, Marple, or Poirot. He rarely explains or overtly demonstrates dazzling deductive prowess. In this installment, he deliberately holds back at the climax (no spoilers), but aside from that structural choice, he is surprisingly passive. In fact, it's curious how much the character plays second fiddle to Josh O'Connor's character, who frequently dominates the dramatic centre of the film. The ensemble cast is outstanding, just a gaggle of talent, all clearly well-directed and well-used. Performances are consistently strong across the board. Even Andrew Scott turns in a serviceable performance, which is notable given that I usually find him about as convincing as a wooden plank delivering a TED Talk. The story itself is well crafted, layered, and structurally sound. One particularly welcome surprise is its treatment of faith. As an atheist (and for many of the same reasons Blanc articulates in the film) I found the depiction refreshingly generous rather than cynical or patronizing. Faith is presented as a meaningful moral and communal force, and the scenes centred on Father Jud's desire to be a good man and a responsible community leader are genuinely touching. These moments add emotional texture without feeling preachy or contrived. Ultimately, Wake Up Dead Man succeeds because it takes the mystery genre seriously. It respects structure, character, and consequence, three things modern cinema too often discards. It is genuinely heartening to see someone in Hollywood committed to keeping the genre alive and treating it with craft and intelligence. We need more mystery films like this, and fewer that mistake cleverness for depth.
- sweetd.136d agopraise God. Praise human nature.
- ncairncrossApril 12, 2026A decent whodunit. Bit scary in places if you want tot watch with your younger teen, but overall the acting is solid and the story holds up enough to keep you guessing (and hankering) until the Great Reveal.
- RipLinesManDecember 23, 2025Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery sets up its church-town whodunit like Event Horizon (1997) remapped onto earthly institutions, and Rian Johnson uses that vibe to make investigation feel like a descent through sealed doors that keep locking behind you. Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc plays the Captain Miller role in spirit, not because he is military but because he treats logic like an airlock and refuses to let hysteria vent the room, while Josh O’Connor’s Fr. Jud Duplenticy radiates the kind of charisma that can become doctrine when the lights go red. Glenn Close as Martha Delacroix and Josh Brolin as Mons. Jefferson Wicks turn status and piety into pressure, like bulkheads under strain, and Mila Kunis as Chief Geraldine Scott functions as the pragmatic crew member trying to keep the ship operational while everyone else starts hearing whispers in the ducts. That is why Paul W. S. Anderson’s masterpiece still matters as a reference point, because Event Horizon’s core duel between Laurence Fishburne’s Miller, containment and responsibility, and Sam Neill’s Dr. William Weir, surrender dressed up as revelation, is the same moral geometry Johnson plays with here: the mystery is not just who did it, it is how badly people want the comforting lie, the shiny answer, the quick absolution, even if it opens a door to something infernal. The movie’s pleasure is watching Blanc navigate that hellish machinery with style and rigor, treating every clue like a warning light on the console, and the ensemble sells the idea that a community can become its own haunted vessel when guilt and power start warping the rules of reality.
- Chili46December 15, 2025Not a funny as Gkass Onion, but still a good murder mystery.
- Tim BosmanDecember 14, 2025Great movie
- Wint3ermuteApril 4, 2026Should have kept it at 1 movie.
- Joey PelicanoFebruary 23, 2026Not as good as Knives Out or even Glass Onion. Seems to have a lot to say about various topics without saying much of anything. The mystery is rushed and a pretty big let down. The actors did their best and did succeed in keeping me interested.
- Joe GMarch 29, 2026These films are consistent and fun, filling a void left by Steven Soderbergh’s mysteries and capers. The direction is always sharp and stylistic, and what it says about society at large lands more often than not. There’s a confidence in tone and presentation that carries the film even when other elements fall short. Some characters slip into caricature, which has been a recurring issue across these films. But the larger problem is structural. The audience is never really given a fair chance to solve the mystery. The twist is technically present, embedded in earlier scenes, but not in a way that allows viewers to piece it together alongside the detective. It’s revealed rather than discovered. That imbalance matters. Part of the appeal of this genre is participation, the feeling that you’re assembling the puzzle in real time. When that opportunity isn’t there, the payoff feels less earned. The film comes close, but the balance still needs refinement for the final reveal to fully land. Entertaining, well-made, but still just short of what the genre can be when it’s working at its highest level.
- Helen WrightFebruary 3, 2026Great movie. Twists and turns. Held my attention till the end.
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Wake Up Dead Man Trivia
Wake Up Dead Man was released on November 26, 2025.
Wake Up Dead Man was directed by Rian Johnson.
Wake Up Dead Man has a runtime of 2h 25m.
Wake Up Dead Man was produced by Rian Johnson, Ram Bergman.
When young priest Jud Duplenticy is sent to assist charismatic firebrand Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, it’s clear that all is not well in the pews. After a sudden and seemingly impossible murder rocks the town, the lack of an obvious suspect prompts local police chief Geraldine Scott to join forces with renowned detective Benoit Blanc to unravel a mystery that defies all logic.
The key characters in Wake Up Dead Man are Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), Fr. Jud Duplenticy (Josh O'Connor), Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close).
Wake Up Dead Man is rated PG-13.
Wake Up Dead Man is a Comedy, Crime, Drama film.
Wake Up Dead Man has an audience rating of 9.4 out of 10.
Wake Up Dead Man had a budget of $210M.
Wake Up Dead Man has made $4M at the box office.