Daniel Craig returns as Detective Benoit Blanc in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, the third (and possibly final) installment of Netflix’s popular Knives Out franchise. The first reviews of the movie have arrived following its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, and they’re a relief, as filmmaker Rian Johnson delivers another satisfying whodunit. Some are even calling it the best of the three.
Here’s what critics are saying about Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery:
How does it compare to the First Two Knives Out Movies?
Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is another satisfying, impossible-to-predict yarn featuring all the series’ hallmarks.
— Christopher Schobert, The Film Stage
Johnson has seamlessly crafted another murder mystery with even more delicious twists and turns than the previous two installments. Maybe even combined.
— Gregory Ellwood, The Playlist
Johnson’s third film in the series is also the one that’s most full of life… [It’s] also his most emotional.
— Chase Hutchinson, TheWrap
Wake Up Dead Man is twistier, darker, and more emotional than the previous two installments.
— Ross Bonaime, Collider
It’s a bit darker than the first two movies.
— Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant
After the bright, light, summery holiday special that was Glass Onion, the Knives Out franchise returns to its gothic roots.
— Damon Wise, Deadline Hollywood Daily
This one is more rooted and organic than Glass Onion, and it returns us to the trap-door-of-reality ingenuity of the first film.
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Rather than chase the chaos of Glass Onion, Rian Johnson opts for a more grounded tone in line with Knives Out.
— Danielle Solzman, Solzy at the Movies
The tension between Blanc’s quest for justice and Jud’s desire for love and mercy lends Wake Up Dead Man a heft that wasn’t present in its two predecessors.
— Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
Wake Up Dead Man is the most intricate mystery of them all, grappling with issues of faith, redemption, revenge, and forgiveness.
— Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics
Where does it rank in the trilogy?
For some at least, [it] might endure as the best one yet.
— Damon Wise, Deadline Hollywood Daily
This installment is the best and most complete one yet.
— Joey Magidson, Awards Radar
[It] is the sharpest Knives Out movie yet.
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
In terms of pure, heady kicks, it outpaces Knives Out but falls just short of Glass Onion.
— Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
It’s the weakest of the three Knives Out movies… The franchise has lost some of its footing with this one.
— Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant
Wake Up Dead Man is the series’ weakest entry, and it’s not even close.
— Christopher Schobert, The Film Stage
(Photo by Netflix)
Is there more to the movie than just another fun mystery?
Wake Up Dead Man addresses our current political climate in a fairly damning way.
— Ross Bonaime, Collider
Johnson has subtly or not-so-subtly included timely political themes in all the Knives Out films, but these tangents seem somewhat more personal this time around.
— Gregory Ellwood, The Playlist
Wake Up Dead Man is much more introspective… It poses metaphysical questions about its own popularity.
— Damon Wise, Deadline Hollywood Daily
Johnson is just having fun, but he also sneaks a winking level of spiritual inquiry.
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
The greatest revelation comes in how effective Johnson is in his exploration of faith, community, anger, and redemption.
— Chase Hutchinson, TheWrap
The film is trying to be reflective — about religion, the draw of power and money, and the people who abuse it — but it rings hollow.
— Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant
How is Rian Johnson’s script?
Johnson trusts the strength of his franchise to play around with format and theme… You just can feel that you’re in the hands of a master storyteller.
— Joey Magidson, Awards Radar
The script, which Johnson wrote, is an impeccable fusion of intrigue and confession. It’s always finding new ways to surprise us.
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
As always, Johnson lays out the pieces for us to catch, then, like his detective character, solves the mystery in stunning, exhilarating fashion.
— Ross Bonaime, Collider
Johnson wisely doesn’t try to outsmart the audience, because that route will always lead to a screenwriter’s eventual demise.
— Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics
With so much going on, the material’s wittiness occasionally suffers.
— Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
[The new characters are] underwritten, which adds to the lackluster feel this movie so often gives off.
— Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant
It also suffers from so much narrative baggage that it fails both as the darker, personal story it wants to be and as the lighter comic escapade these films usually promise.
— Trace Sauveur, Paste Magazine
Is it as funny as the other two movies?
Don’t worry. It’s also funny. Very funny.
— Gregory Ellwood, The Playlist
The film might be a bit more serious than the previous two, but it’s still quite funny. Something dramatic will happen, but a beat later, the audience will be laughing.
— Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant
That sombre aspect only makes the humor pop even more. There might be less jokes here than last time around, but it’s somehow an overall funnier flick.
— Joey Magidson, Awards Radar
There’s room for humor in solving the locked-door mystery, including one joke that had me clapping before anyone else reacted in the theater because I could see exactly where Johnson was headed—and it paid off completely.
— Danielle Solzman, Solzy at the Movies
[It moves] at a rapid pace with one killer joke after another, including a couple of sly shots that it takes against its streaming home, Netflix, and even Johnson’s former film series, Star Wars.
— Chase Hutchinson, TheWrap
Despite a few laugh-out-loud bits, Johnson proves more interested in the spiritual than the silly.
— Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
There aren’t so many in-jokes this time round, and there’s a little less camp value in the way it leaves us to work out the identity of the guilty party.
— Damon Wise, Deadline Hollywood Daily
(Photo by John Wilson/Netflix)
How does it look?
Thanks to Johnson’s longtime cinematographer, Steve Yedlin, the film is also absolutely gorgeous.
— Gregory Ellwood, The Playlist
There are so many brilliant visual moments that make revealing use of lighting changes or become more haunting images of gothic horror when we get plunged into darkness.
— Chase Hutchinson, TheWrap
Wake Up Dead Man might be the most visually brilliant of [all Johnson’s movies]… Yedlin’s use of light and shadow to hint at something darker within the church, to outright gothic horror in the shadowy wilderness, is simply astonishing.
— Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics
Wake Up Dead Man’s visual approach is much more dour, with the grays and shadows within the Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude church.
— Ross Bonaime, Collider
Is there enough of Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc?
Wake Up Dead Man doesn’t really belong to him… but you don’t miss him because of the incredible ensemble.
— Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics
There is never a moment when you’re impatient for him to arrive.
— Chase Hutchinson, TheWrap
It takes far too long for the scenery-chewing detective to be introduced.
— Christopher Schobert, The Film Stage
Craig feels shortchanged this time, with Blanc strikingly passive compared to the other films, where he’s always one step ahead.
— Chris Bumbray, JoBlo’s Movie Network
But is his performance still worth it?
Daniel Craig turns in his best Benoit Blanc so far.
— Joey Magidson, Awards Radar
Craig, this time, gives what I would call his richest Benoit Blanc performance.
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Craig continues to play Blanc beautifully, revealing new layers to the grandiose sleuth when we least expect it.
— Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics
In Craig’s talented hands, the Southern-accented gentleman continues to be a charismatic hero.
— Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
It’s always a delight to see the actor as Benoit Blanc. But outside one memorable moment at the pulpit, Craig is rather subdued this time around.
— Christopher Schobert, The Film Stage
How are the other characters?
In contrast to the first two Knives Out movies, the suspects this time round are a darker, moodier, less readily readable group.
— Damon Wise, Deadline Hollywood Daily
It’s the other characters — save for the scene-chewing Josh Brolin, who’s believable as a radical priest who drives people away from his church, and Glenn Close’s Martha, a firm believer who has a history with the Wicks — who fall short.
— Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant
Almost everyone gets left aside as mere set dressing… Wake Up Dead Man is surprisingly bad at making its ensemble feel essential to the stakes.
— Trace Sauveur, Paste Magazine
(Photo by Rian Johnson)
Does anyone stand out?
The outstanding Josh O’Connor. Not only does the franchise newcomer give an excellent comedic performance, the actor also brings a genuine amount of grace to a film that ends up becoming precisely about that.
— Chase Hutchinson, TheWrap
Among the newcomers, Josh O’Connor is a major standout, actually giving the best performance overall in the trilogy.
— Joey Magidson, Awards Radar
Close is the one actor who truly elevates her character on the page, delivering yet another powerhouse performance when it counts.
— Gregory Ellwood, The Playlist
It’s Close’s performance that makes this one of the reasons you’ll want to watch this film a second time right when it ends.
— Ross Bonaime, Collider
Are there any other complaints?
There are a few lulls that last longer than they should, and the runtime is a stretch.
— Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics
Wake Up Dead Man’s final revelations aren’t fulfilling or meaningful enough to make up for the relative lack of fun it is to slog through its repetitious plotting.
— Trace Sauveur, Paste Magazine
A church is simply not as involving a locale.
— Christopher Schobert, The Film Stage
My only real issue with Wake Up Dead Man is that the cast is too big.
— Chris Bumbray, JoBlo’s Movie Network
How are critics feeling about the whole franchise now?
Johnson has made what might go down as one of the great trilogies, with each film captivating in its own unique, brilliant way.
— Ross Bonaime, Collider
Part of the beauty of Johnson’s Knives Out trilogy is that each brings something different to the table, and thus each can be someone else’s favorite.
— Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics
Will this one leave us wanting more Knivest Out movies?
Johnson can rest assured that his flock will be ready and waiting to receive him if he returns.
— Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics
Here’s hoping that Craig and Johnson reunite for more. I’d love to have a dozen more Benoit Blanc movies before all is said and done!
— Joey Magidson, Awards Radar
If it isn’t [the last installment], I can’t wait to see what direction Johnson takes the franchise next.
— Danielle Solzman, Solzy at the Movies
Johnson certainly has more stories to tell… Next time, let’s hope for a more compelling setting and, please, a more dynamic detective.
— Christopher Schobert, The Film Stage
I’m not sure he’ll ever be able to top [Wake Up Dead Man].
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery opens in limited release in theaters on November 26, 2025 and streams on Netflix on December 12, 2025.