Released in November 2025, “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” is the third film in writer and director Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” trilogy, and it was shot right here in Cold Spring. There are no continuities between the three movies besides the return of detective Benoit Blanc, so I’m reviewing “Wake Up Dead Man” as an independent piece. I have not seen the original film or “Glass Onion”. There will be a few minor spoilers.
Jud Duplenticy, a passionate, lovable priest with a violent past, is sent to Chimney Rock (Cold Spring, N.Y.) to assist priest Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, a charismatic yet threatening fire-and-brimstone preacher with a small cult of brainwashed believers. Tensions are high as Monsignor Wicks tries to scare Father Jud away, and Father Jud tries to infiltrate Wicks’ devoted following with less extreme teachings. On Good Friday, a body is found in the church, brutally murdered. It seems impossible that a member of the church committed the crime, as they were all witnesses. This called for Benoit Blanc, the eccentric genius detective who’s never failed to solve a case.
The cast is absolutely stacked. Josh O’Connor makes Father Jud extremely admirable. Killer or not, the audience is on his side. Josh Brolin plays Monsignor Wicks as an extremely convincing cult leader. Glenn Close, who portrays Martha Delacroix, is one of the most underrated actresses of all time. In 1987, she starred in “Fatal Attraction” as a jealous stalker. She did not become less terrifying with age.
Unfortunately, whether they were involved in the killings or not, the other church member characters were not properly established as suspects. We just didn’t get to know them enough to believe that they would have the motivation for the killing. For example, Andrew Scott portrayed Lee Ross. He is one of my favorite actors of all time, and he can be extremely threatening, as shown in “Smithereen”, his feature-length “Black Mirror” episode, and his performance as Hamlet for the BBC. I wish he had more to do in “Wake Up Dead Man”.
Several critics view “Wake Up Dead Man” as the darkest of the trilogy, and though the movie has comedic elements, every character apart from Blanc is overly serious. The solemnity of the other actors makes Blanc’s character seem a bit ridiculous due to his terrible accent and cheesy detective talk. Additionally, it seems that Daniel Craig’s character (Blanc) takes a complete backseat to Josh O’Connor’s character (Father Jud) because of the stark difference in the depth of their characters.
The standout scene for me was Father Jud’s phone call with the company secretary, Louise, played by Bridgette Everette. This short scene completely shifts the tone of the movie. When Father Jud feels least like a priest, Louise reminds him of his ultimate goal, grounding him. It goes to show that you don’t need big names to improve the depth of a movie.
The ending feels a bit rushed as a lot is crammed into the confession of the perpetrator. Still, I am impressed beyond words with all mystery writers, and Johnson is no exception. It boggles me how they can create such a thick web of a story that no viewer could predict in its totality. In “Wake Up Dead Man”, the crime truly seemed unsolvable. But the director did not hide the case-cracking details from the audience. We were on the exact same playing field as Blanc and any other character. “Wake Up Dead Man” has extremely strong themes, which I wouldn’t expect from a mystery. The religious themes are tasteful, as the movie presented an enjoyable story for believers and nonbelievers alike. When Jud, a priest, and Blanc, an atheist, discuss religion, they agree that although it may just be fairy tales and theatrics, it is the way that many of us express what’s already inside us. This movie is a hopeful take on faith and forgiveness, and no viewer is left out.
If you’re a Cold Spring resident, you’ll recognize many scenes in “Wake Up Dead Man”. As you read earlier, Chimney Rock is partially filmed in Cold Spring. The opening shot of Chimney Rock is an aerial view of our town, with the dock and gazebo clearly visible. According to ¨Condé Nast Traveler¨ magazine, the design team wanted a river valley town with a strong sense of history and “settledness.” “[Cold Spring] had all the elements we were looking for with a main street that goes straight down to the river,” said Rick Heinrich, the production manager. One of the main points of interest in the murder case is the bar, Il Diavolo, which is Cold Spring Pizza! The exterior of the building is edited to look like a bar, but the unedited Bozerinos, Angie’s, and Cold Spring Coffee House are also visible. The shots inside, on the other hand, are just a production set. Though the church used in filming is in Essing Forest, England, it was chosen specifically because of its mid-18th-century neo-Gothic design, making it a plausible Hudson Valley find.
I walked away from this film thinking a lot more than I anticipated. I give “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” a 9/10.
