Wake Up Dead Man Debuts at TIFF, Limited Theaters Ahead of Netflix

Rian Johnson's third Knives Out film, Wake Up Dead Man A Knives Out Mystery, premiered to a warm reception at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6 and is scheduled for a brief theatrical engagement ahead of a Netflix bow in December. The film reunites Daniel Craig as private detective Benoit Blanc for an investigation into an apparently impossible death at a Catholic parish in upstate New York and features a large ensemble that includes Josh OConnor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack and Thomas Haden Church.

Johnson said the film, which he wrote and directed, leans darker and more gothic than its predecessors, drawing on influences that predate Agatha Christie and reach back toward Edgar Allan Poe. In the film Blanc is enlisted after Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, played by Josh Brolin, collapses and dies in a sealed concrete box during Mass. Blanc pairs with the young priest Jud Duplenticy, played by Josh OConnor, to untangle a locked room style mystery that tests faith and reason.

The movie debuted in Toronto to largely positive reviews, with critics praising the tonal shift and...