Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton
Week of December 8, 2025
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Rated PG-13 for some crude sexual material, bloody images, strong language and violent content
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%
Streaming on Netflix
Filmmaker Rian Johnson’s inner Agatha Christie is back with his third installment of the Knives Out movies, following the exploits of detective Benois Blanc (Daniel Craig) who has the ability to take on the most elusive of murder mysteries. In this case, a young progressive priest (Josh O’Connor) is sent to a small parish, led by an ultra right-wing older priest (Josh Brolin) who holds a tight reign over his small congregation. When the older priest is murdered, seemingly in front of everyone’s eyes, the newcomer immediately gets the blame. But Blanc is hired to see if there might be more to the case than meets the eye. With another all-star cast, including Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Thomas Haden Church and Jeffrey Wright, the story gives us a whole host of possible criminals as we play Clue and try to figure out whodunit. But half-way through the film, the tone changes and the whole thing makes you just give up and enjoy the ride. As a murder mystery, you can’t get much better. It is funny, entertaining and completely surprising. What I found most fascinating was the less-than-subtle political subtext. In interviews, Josh Brolin has already had to go out of his way to declare that his character is not based on our current president. But that’s because it so obviously is. The story copies our current political turmoil but brilliantly placed here in a small congregation of parishioners. A story like this greatly benefits from such a huge ensemble of talented actors, all willing to do what it takes to sell the enigma. The performances are all solid, but I especially loved the early back and forth between the two priests. This sets up the story in a way that draws you in closely, so you have a harder time seeing the bigger picture. Overall, we get an engaging, thrill-ride of a crime dramedy that will give you a nice evening staying out of the cold. A-