Film Review – Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

“Wake Up Dead Man” is the third installment of the “Knives Out” franchise, which probably was never meant to continue past the initial 2019 release, but audience interest and filmmaker enthusiasm was enough to turn the sleuthing skills of Benoit Blanc into a series. 2021’s “Glass Onion” switched the saga into a streaming experience, and one that was warmly welcomed by fans, even with a noticeable decline in quality. Writer/director Rian Johnson returns with another case of murder for the master detective to solve, this time examining the strange ways of faith and devotion, taking elements of danger to a church setting as a monsignor is offed and there’s a whole flock of troubled people involved in the situation. “Wake Up Dead Man” is no creative departure from the other chapters of “Knives Out,” but it’s a small improvement on “Glass Onion,” finding Johnson conjuring a more interesting case of ego, and the supporting cast gets plenty of mileage out of the Agatha Christie-inspired material. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com