Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025)

Direction: Rian Johnson
Country: UK

Wake Up Dead Man, the third installment of the Knives Out franchise, is a sporadically watchable whodunit assembled without much brilliance. Here you’ll find a tenacious religious cult of personality, heavy confessions, an insoluble murder mystery, ghostly apparitions, and mystical insinuations. Yet the film is not nearly as clever as it believes itself to be. Written, directed, and co-produced by Rian Johnson (Looper, 2012; Star Wars: The Last Jedi, 2017), who also signed the previous two entries (2019 and 2022), it feels increasingly mannered and self-satisfied.

Artificial and predictable, the film is a collage of cheap schemes and contrived plotting revolving around guilt-ridden Father Jud (Josh O’Connor), a former boxer turned Catholic priest assigned to a rural parish in upstate New York. There, Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin)—a provocateur and opportunist who thrives on a cult of personality—presides over a congregation of fanatical, ambitious followers, whose simmering tensions gradually come to the surface. When a gruesome crime occurs inside the church, only the famed private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), operating with his trademark relaxed yet sharply observant demeanor, appears capable of untangling the mystery.

Despite a stellar cast and an abundance of secrets waiting to be unearthed, the story never truly coheres, creeping forward in a disorienting manner that suggests narrative confusion rather than deliberate complexity. The mystery itself proves more bland than intriguing, and by the time the case reaches its conclusion, it feels more undaunting than haunting. Wake Up Dead Man ultimately takes the shape of a hollow parody—a loud, overcooked puzzle that favors spectacle over substance. Sadly, beyond its wackiness, few of its moments are sharp or amusing enough to earn even a fleeting smile.

Glass Onion (2022)

Direction: Rian Johnson
Country: USA

Referencing a song of The Beatles, Glass Onion is the anticipated sequel to the well-received mystery film Knives Out (2019). The latter, without being brilliant, happens to be better than what it is offered now by the writer-director Rian Johnson, whose directorial peak occurred in 2012 with the ingenious Looper. 

Daniel Craig reprises his role as the low-key detective Benoit Blanc, who travels to the private Greek island of tech billionaire Miles Born (Edward Norton) to unravel a silly mystery involving five of his colorful, wealthy friends. 

Slackened by a low flow of energy, the film is reduced to a series of diffused circumstances that just want to prove how eccentric these characters are. It's not hard to find your way around, but the film offers no clever touches and there’s nothing really new. Occasionally, the dialogues proliferate across the general monotony with moderate invigoration, especially when hitting celebrities, but this drawn-out crime episode lacks the investigative depth required to surpass superficiality. 

Linearly plotted, Glass Onion is stunningly unfunny and desperately wacky; a barely coherent mess moved by a silly game with no thrills and no real mystery. The resolution of the puzzle is simply vomited without a gradual crescendo, making this second Knives Out installment a flat response to what was demanded by the fans of the original.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

Directed By Rian Johnson
Country: USA

The stylish episode VIII of the Star Wars franchise, the second of a trilogy that began in 2015 with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, was given the title of “The Last Jedi” and keeps dividing audiences worldwide. While its visual impact is undeniable, old and new characters work together to infuse zest and grittiness in an impetuous inspiration by Rian Johnson (“Brick”, “Looper”), who penned and directed with equal doses of passion and fascination. The director actually captured the tonal spirit of the preceding episodes and elevated it through bold and fresh ideas. However, this spacial opus could have run shorter than the two hours and a half without major loss.

The spectacular battles between the dominant First Order, an evil military junta commanded by the Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis), and the Resistance, led by General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), are in the center of the attention. However, and because this is far from being a tacky tale, one can find a decent emotional side attached to it, as well as a winning humor, which associated to speedy action scenes, regales with an inviting diversion.

In this episode, Rey (Daisy Ridley) travels to the secluded planetary island of Ahch-To, where Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), a Jedi master turned hermit, decided to hide six years before. She wants to convince him to join the Resistance. After the initial stubbornness and refusal, Luke ends up accepting the challenge and even teaches her the ways of the Jedi as he sees a lot of courage, righteousness, and skills in her that are so characteristic from The Force. However, Rey communicates telepathically with the venomous Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), son of Leia and Han Solo, whose ambiguous behavior and sly intentions will drag her to Snoke’s den.

On another front, we have the former stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega) teaming up with Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), a maintenance worker for the Resistance that appears for the first time in the series. I don’t see her as a super strong character, though. Also, the often funny X-wing fighter pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), does what he has to do for the sake of the Light with fearless bravura, even if he needs to confront his inflexible, stern superior, the Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo (Laura Dern). 

As a bold director, Johnson didn’t turn his face to risk or experience and his efforts become successful. The stunning tete-a-tete between Skywalker and Kylo Ren was the most exciting moment of the film, culminating in a sophisticated artifice of teleportation. It felt like I was in a video game without being able to control it.
 
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” was dedicated to Carrie Fisher, who died of cardiac arrest on December 15. The last installment of the trilogy will be released in 2019, having J.J. Abrams once again in the director’s chair.