Writer-director Rian Johnson and star Josh O’Connor discuss how their real-life experiences informed their work and the deeper themes for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. Whereas Johnson’s first two Benoit Blanc whodunnits, Knives Out and Glass Onion, examined the world of the rich and greedy, Wake Up Dead Man analyzes another kind of power: faith, guilt, and those who wield them.
Set in a tiny, tight-knit village parish, Wake Up Dead Man sees Daniel Craig’s detective Benoit Blanc and Josh O’Connor’s well-meaning young reverend Jud Duplenticy team up to prove Jud’s innocence and reveal who killed Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) in what seems to be the ultimate “impossible crime.” The murder isn’t the only question being asked in Wake Up Dead Man, however.
What does it mean to have faith, and how do those who believe reconcile their differences with those who do not? How does that philosophical divide change the characters’ dynamic? In an interview with ScreenRant‘s Todd Gilchrist for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, Johnson and O’Connor shared their personal experiences with religion and how its influence shaped the relationship between Jud and staunch non-believer Blanc.
Examining the divide between Jud and Blanc was a major factor in what prompted Johnson to write this particular Knives Out story. “For me, this is what a big part of the point of writing this was,” Johnson explained.
“I was very Christian when I was younger; I’m not a believer anymore. And so, I have both of those people inside me. And it really isn’t that one is dominant; it’s that they’re in constant conversation.”
The director continued, “To be able to write a scene where I let myself talk to myself about these things? That’s the best-case scenario for a writer.” As the case becomes increasingly biblical, both Jud and Blanc are tested in their beliefs, bringing them closer to understanding one another while also deepening their own views on religion.
In every Knives Out film, Blanc forms a bond with one of the chief suspects. Blanc’s trust in Marta’s (Ana de Armas) skills as a nurse in Knives Out and his partnership with “Andi” (Janelle Monáe) in Glass Onion are all part of what makes Craig’s character so fascinating as a detective. He doesn’t keep his distance. Blanc’s relationship with Jud is more complex, though, as they embody the movie’s central theme.
O’Connor recalled his first meeting with Johnson for Wake Up Dead Man, and how they discussed the film’s ever-present theological questions. “Rian and I’s first-ever conversation was about that very thing,” O’Connor said. “I grew up Irish Catholic, going to church every Sunday, and my feeling is that I really do have faith. I just don’t know where to put it, or what it’s for.”
O’Connor agreed with Johnson that the scenes his character shares with Blanc are “a lot like those conversations that are playing out in your head,” and shared how he believes that every character he plays “in some ways informs [his] own life.”
“You do learn things from a character, and the great privilege of being an actor is that you’re collecting these souls and learning things from them. Jud taught me a lot,” O’Connor said.
Co-starring alongside Craig and O’Connor is the rest of Monsignor Wicks’ flock, each with their own reasons for seeking religion: Glenn Close as ultimate devotee Martha Delacroix, Jeremy Renner as the abandoned Dr. Nat Sharp, Kerry Washington as understandably bitter lawyer Vera Draven, Andrew Scott as has-been sci-fi author Lee Ross, Cailee Spaeny as chronically injured concert cellist Simone Vivane, and Daryl McCormack as political wannabe Cy Draven.
Though they get some help from Mila Kunis’ Chief Geraldine Scott, neither Jud nor Blanc receives a particularly warm welcome from Monsignor Wicks’ zealous followers; at least they have that in common in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is available to stream now, only on Netflix.
- Release Date
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November 26, 2025
- Runtime
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140 minutes