One of my favorite new series started back in 2019 with Knives Out, a hugely popular release on Netflix. The second one, Glass Onion, came in 2022 with overall positive reviews, though it was different from the first in a lot of ways. With the third installment, Wake Up Dead Man, Rian Johnson has done it again… and perhaps better than ever.

The first was an instant classic (a favorite oxymoron of mine) with an incredible mystery and a story about family and wealth, particularly corruption. I gave it 8.2/10

The second was an interesting twist on the murder mystery genre, even more than the first. It critiqued even more obviously the selfish, self-obsessed, and power-elites of our real world. It felt a little weaker overall: mystery, dialogue, weak first half. I gave it 6.9/10.

So where does Knives Out 3 stand? And are they making more? Or should we bury the series altogether?

(Yeah, I’m pretty sure they’ll keep going. And no, I won’t stop with the puns anytime soon. By the way, I’m still very excited for these. I’d take five more! Give me a Muppets one! Stop laughing; I’m not kidding.)

Good

To start with, the plot (and mystery) in this one is phenomenal. For me, that was the biggest issue with Glass Onion, and this one course-corrects. The mystery is pretty tricky to solve. The clues don’t give much away, though it makes sense in the end. And pretty much right from the jump, both main actors — Welcome to my list of favorites, Josh O’Connor — are on fire. (Not literally. That was Glass Onion.)

A note on Daniel Craig: He’s like the college basketball star who gives you 20 points every single game, never more, and he’s phenomenal, but he’s so consistent that it gets overshadowed. The dude is hilarious and deadly-good. Let’s give the 20-point star some props.

I also think the real-world critiques and inspection of society are done much better… maybe even better than the first one. This one focuses on a priest, a Catholic congregation, and it’s riveting. There are fire-and-brimstone monologues; cursed memories with current consequences; and plenty of deaths, adding to the trilogy’s extensive list of kills.

But what really carries the movie on many levels is Josh O’Connor’s performance as Father Jud. This young, rookie priest wants to lead a faithful, community-engaged congregation. He wants to transform this old, stubborn, frankly evil church. It makes him the #1 suspect. It also makes him the #1 emotional force of this movie which packs a good amount of heart.

Bad

The first negative is a little picky, I admit. But to put it simply: I don’t see the point of having this star-studded, ensemble cast. In the previous two movies, each side-character felt more fleshed out. Besides a brief recap scene — very close to the beginning, very much an example of info-dumping — these don’t feel like important characters, even though they’re supposedly the “suspects.”

Are you telling me an up-and-coming actor couldn’t have put more life into these side-characters than… say, Jeremy Renner? Or (sorry to hate on her) Mila Kunis? I don’t believe that. I think there was a lot of room for improvement, and it’s mostly on those background actors.

One more point: While the religious context is handled very well, it did become heavy-handed at times, even a little preachy. (Pun intended.) These moments were hard to ignore when calculating my overall score for the movie.

Overall

It’s far from a perfect movie, but it was surprisingly well-done. It didn’t have any plot holes. No real failures by any of the main actors, including Josh Brolin who plays a freaky-mean priest. Overall, I’d say it challenges Knives Out for the best in the trilogy. Ultimately, I’d say it falls a bit short. I’ll give it 7.6/10.