Interest in Wake Up Dead Man has intensified across the UK as Netflix subscribers search for when the latest Benoit Blanc mystery becomes available to stream. The third film in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out series arrives on Netflix UK this December, carrying unusual weight for its creator. Johnson has been explicit about the challenge it posed, calling it “the hardest script I’ve ever written”, as reported by The WP Times — a striking admission from a filmmaker whose previous mysteries earned Oscar nominations and global success.
At first glance, Wake Up Dead Man follows familiar territory: a murder, a closed community and an apparently impossible crime. Yet the film quickly signals that it is operating on a different level. Unlike Knives Out or Glass Onion, the story does not rush its star detective onto the screen. Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc is absent for much of the opening act, a structural choice Johnson says was essential to grounding the film’s themes before the mystery mechanics take over.
“I didn’t want to rush to the detective,” Johnson explained in a spoiler interview. “Once Benoit Blanc drops into the story, the energy changes completely. Before that, I wanted the audience to really understand the moral and emotional landscape.”
Why Rian Johnson says this was his hardest script
Johnson’s writing philosophy runs counter to expectations of the genre. He does not begin with the crime or its solution. “I don’t start with whodunit,” he said. “I don’t start at the beginning or the end. I start zoomed way back, with the fundamental spine of what the story actually is.”
That approach proved unusually demanding on Wake Up Dead Man. The screenplay went through multiple complete rewrites, particularly in its opening act. Johnson has confirmed that he discarded entire versions of the story, along with several characters and subplots. Among those removed was a teenage character meant to reflect his own religious upbringing.
“I grew up very Christian, and I’m not anymore,” Johnson said. “The question wasn’t whether I could make another Benoit Blanc mystery, but whether I could genuinely examine faith in America — without finger-wagging, but also without tiptoeing around it.”
This thematic ambition sets Wake Up Dead Man apart from its predecessors. Where Glass Onion leaned heavily on satire and contemporary politics, the new film adopts a darker, more introspective tone. Johnson cites John Dickson Carr, rather than Agatha Christie alone, as a major influence — particularly Carr’s fascination with locked-room mysteries and “perfectly impossible crimes.”
“This one owes more to Carr than Christie,” Johnson noted. “There’s a gothic quality to it, closer to Edgar Allan Poe than to social comedy.”
What UK Netflix viewers should look for: setting, cast and hidden details
Although set in a fictional upstate New York village, Wake Up Dead Man was filmed largely in the English countryside — a choice that subtly shapes its atmosphere. The story centres on a remote church community, allowing Johnson to limit the number of suspects while heightening tension.
“You’ve got a small parish, a set-aside church, crypts, forests,” Johnson explained. “It’s a classic small-town mystery, which I love.”
For British audiences, the tone may feel closer to traditional UK crime drama than to Hollywood spectacle. The pacing is deliberate, the setting restrained, and the emphasis firmly on character rather than shock twists.
The ensemble cast plays a crucial role in maintaining suspense. Glenn Close, Kerry Washington, Josh Brolin, Jeremy Renner and others form a line-up where no single performance dominates. This, Johnson says, is intentional.
“When everyone is played by a movie star, anyone could be guilty,” he said. “It avoids the problem where the most recognisable new face is obviously the culprit.”
Johnson is also clear about what he avoids as a storyteller. He does not plant obvious red herrings or attempt to outsmart the audience with cheap tricks.
“I assume the audience is smarter than me,” he said. “If I try to deliberately mislead them, they’ll see it instantly. The only real misdirection comes from getting them emotionally invested.”
Attentive Netflix UK viewers may spot subtle Easter eggs, including a quiet tribute to the late magician and actor Ricky Jay, whose poster appears briefly on screen. Several investigative scenes were filmed but ultimately cut for pacing.
“There’s some great stuff on the cutting-room floor,” Johnson admitted. “But the final version is stronger for it.”
Wake Up Dead Man is ultimately less about solving a puzzle than about examining belief, authority and moral certainty. Wrapped in the structure of a classic crime story, it represents the most ambitious — and personal — Benoit Blanc mystery to date. As it arrives on Netflix UK this December, the film stands as a reminder that even the most entertaining genre cinema can ask uncomfortable questions beneath the surface.
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