Posted in: Movies, Netflix | Tagged: wake up dead man, wake up dead man: a knives out mystery

Wake Up Dead Man: New Teaser Art And Story Detailed Revealed

Netflix released the teaser art for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, and we have learned some story details.

We are returning to the world of Benoit Blanc sooner rather than later, and we are finally starting to get some details about Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. So far, Netflix has kept everything pretty quiet because this is a mystery, and showing off too many details is just going to ruin all of the fun. Now that we're in September and the fall season is technically either just starting or right around the corner, we're getting some details. The first thing out of the gate is a piece of teaser art that gives us a look at most of the main cast. We hadn't seen anyone except Blanc and Jud, played by Josh O'Connor. The teaser art shows off everyone as they look down into a grave.

We learned not long ago that this mystery is going to be something that really tests Blanc because it seems impossible, and he is a logical person. In a piece released by TUDUM, we hear that detail again, but we also learn a little bit about the other players and how they all know each other; they are all members of the same church. The first film brought together a large family, the second was a group of friends, and now Wake Up Dead Man is tackling the complex relationships that form between parishioners.

"Johnson's latest film brings Blanc to a small hamlet in leafy upstate New York, where eager young priest Jud Duplenticy (Josh O'Connor) has been sent to assist the local priest, Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). A charismatic firebrand, Wicks tends to a flock that includes Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close), Samson Holt (Thomas Haden Church), Vera Draven (Kerry Washington), Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack), Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), and Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny) After a seemingly impossible murder rocks the town, local police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) joins forces with Blanc to unravel a mystery that pushes the boundaries of both faith and reason. But as Blanc puts it, 'This was dressed as a miracle, it's just a murder. And I solve murders.'"

Anyone who has done hard time in a church knows that things can get extremely messy when you're talking about a congregation that is insular. It sounds like Brolin's Wicks and the location of Upstate New York are likely leaning toward a town on the smaller side. Between a charismatic priest at the center and small-town drama, things are going to get messy, as they often seem to in these films. That tracks for the themes of humans as extremely flawed creatures, only this time Wake Up Dead Man gets some good old-fashioned religious guilt sprinkled in as well.m

"Themes of guilt, mystery, morality, and fallible humanity all feel right at home in a church, with a man of God in the center of the mix," Johnson explains. "I have strong feelings about faith: both my own personal experience and how it intersects with our country's cultural and civic life, and the ways that intersection touches all of us differently. So it felt like rich ground for a good story."

This is both a deviation and a return to form as far as Johnson is concerned. Johson explained that Wake Up Dead Man is"more similar to the first Knives Out in that it gets back to the real origins of the genre, which predate Agatha Christie, going back to Edgar Allan Poe. It's still a Benoit Blanc mystery, so it's funny and fun, but it's set in an old stone church, there are lots of graveyards."

"Listen! Listen, and I will tell you how it happened. You will see, you will hear how healthy my mind is." – The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allen Poe, January 1843.

Wake Up Dead Man: Summary, Cast List, Release Date

The only summary we have for Wake Up Dead Man is: "Benoit Blanc returns for his most dangerous case yet." The cast list underneath the date announcement says, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, the newest Benoit Blanc whodunnit from writer and director Rian Johnson, starring Daniel Craig, Josh O'Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church. Wake Up Dead Man will stream on Netflix on December 12th, 2025.

We knew that a Knives Out film would be coming out on Netflix eventually because of the deal Johnson signed, but we learned in May 2024 that the film, titled Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, would be going into production. However, aside from that, we knew very little until June 2024. Director and writer Rian Johnson took the time to his official X/Twitter to share the logo and official title of the film. They are still keeping that "A Knives Out Mystery" part even though Johnson has said that he doesn't like it, and by mid-August 2024, Johnson confirmed that production on the new Knives Out film had wrapped.

During the initial announcement, Johnson said, "I love everything about whodunnits, but one of the things I love most is how malleable the genre is. There's a whole tonal spectrum from Carr to Christie, and getting to explore that range is one of the most exciting things about making Benoit Blanc movies."

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!