In 2019, “Knives Out” was released and made history, earning critical acclaim as the best whodunit film of recent years. The first installment introduces our main character, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), a private detective who is called to investigate the death of author Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer). However, Rian Johnson, who has now directed all three “Knives Out” movies, fell short in storytelling with the release of the sequel, “Glass Onion,” in 2022. Blanc came back in “Glass Onion” as he took on a new case revolving around billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) and his friends. Fans said the story felt jumpy and was mediocre when compared to the first movie.

   “Wake Up Dead Man,” released in select theaters on Nov. 26, is the latest installment in the franchise. The film follows Blanc as he investigates the murder of monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). He teams up with priest Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor) to investigate the suspected murder. 

   Like the other two films, “Wake Up Dead Man” features a star-studded cast, including Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, and Kerry Washington. However, it focuses more on Duplenticy’s character development rather than Blanc and his story. The minor switch doesn’t capture the same suspenseful, sinister vibes as the “Knives Out” franchise does, but it also fails to capture the franchise’s famous humor. It almost feels like the “Knives Out” franchise is maturing and becoming increasingly serious. Given the lack of humor in the previous film’s offerings, the movie does seem more serious, which is a nice change of pace. 

   This movie has a greater focus on faith and is less witty than the first two, aligning more closely with real-life religious culture and the struggles that come with it. The tone in the first half of the movie covers the dark side of religion, filled with guilt of sin. But the religious focus doesn’t make the film any worse, and I actually liked how they went for something that fans haven’t seen before in this franchise. The added tension and dark themes throughout the movie feel like a rebrand for “Knives Out,” and hopefully, we get to see more of that in the future (if more movies make their way to the big screen).

  “Wake Up Dead Man” is probably one of the best movies I’ve seen this year, with a stacked cast and a mystery so good you truly don’t know who did it until the very end. “Wake Up Dead Man” is available to stream on Netflix now.