In the ever changing landscape of modern mystery cinema, Benoit Blanc has become the gold standard for the movie detective. After a limited theatrical release that began on November 26, 2025, the film transitioned to a digital release on Netflix on December 12, 2025. “Wake Up Dead Man” currently has a 91% critic score and 95% audience score, with critics and fans alike praising the more mature tone the movie has chosen.
The movie centers around a “perfectly impossible crime”: the murder of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), a popular priest in the community, whose death during a Good Friday church service leaves the members of the church in shock. With the mystery growing by the day, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is summoned to the rural upstate New York church to solve the case.
Similar to the previous two movies in the series, the supporting cast members of “Wake Up Dead Man” are a highlight. This time, the cast is led by Josh O’ Connor as Father Jud, a young priest who serves as the film’s emotional anchor. Other stellar performances are given by actors Glenn Close as Martha Delacroix, a secretive church manager; Jeremy Renner as Dr. Nat Sharp, a washed up doctor; and Andrew Scott as Lee Ross, a former science fiction writer. Each of the supporting characters has a distinct connection to the mystery and the church, along with secrets that all build into the overall mystery.
As a movie, “Wake Up Dead Man” feels more personal. Director Rian Johnson, who was raised in a heavily catholic setting, is able to utilize the church setting to explore themes of guilt, faith, and penance. A central pillar of the mystery revolves around the Catholic practice of confession. These moments of confession not only set up the main mystery, but also build the connection between Monsignor Wicks and Father Jud. The religious commentary has proved that these movies can be more than just the loud satire of “Glass Onion” or “Knives Out”.
The mystery itself is framed as an “impossible” murder that even a seasoned detective like Blanc cannot solve. The detective work is particularly satisfying this time as the nature of the crime forces Blanc and the other characters to look past the physical clues and connect the many different causes of murder. Both logic and faith take and give to the mystery, ensuring that the religious commentary is purposeful.
Unlike previous films where Benoit Blanc is the immediate main character, the supporting cast plays a much bigger role this time. The dynamic between Father Jud and Blanc as they work together to solve the murder creates a partnership that is very entertaining to watch. In previous installments of the series, Blanc was just a hired detective that barely had a character arc. In “Wake Up Dead Man”, Blanc seeks deeper meaning in both the crime and himself which humanizes the detective as he begins to understand the moral weight of the crime.
However, the film does not go without flaws. The introduction is a bit long, taking nearly 40 minutes of exposition dump before Benoit Blanc makes his entrance. While the introduction does do a lot for the world building, much of the exposition felt unnecessary or could have been executed in a more concise fashion. Additionally, the film becomes repetitive during the third act. The over reliance on layered flashbacks to fully explain the murder becomes a bit boring. The movie seems to just pause to replay the same scene over, just from a different angle.
The film earns a 4/5 rating for successfully improving and evolving the franchise. It trades the louder “eat the rich” satire for a more muted but profound look into each character. As a whole, “Wake Up Dead Man” proves that no matter the setting, Blanc’s pursuit of the truth remains sharper than ever.
