The Knives Out Trilogy

Knives Out is a murder mystery script based on an idea Rian Johnson had back in 2005. Inspired by Agatha Christie books coming to film. A genre most considered outdated, Rian made it feel modern and fresh. Learning from the past directors and writers. A Radiohead song inspired the title—sounded like a perfect title.

From what I recall, the first movie (which was released in 2019) is really a story about inheritance. You have this family fighting over their dead father, which is a setup everybody knows. It’s down to earth and small scale, yet the stakes feel rather large. It was high quality on a small budget of just $40 million, and it earned $300 million overall.

Netflix saw something in it and helped fund the sequels. Picking up the rights for two follow-ups, Rian got a nice payday too. Not bad at all! Considering the state of Hollywood and the small screen, getting something new made is hard. Unproven, it’s almost impossible with fewer and fewer new things being made. Getting a sequel is even harder.

The indie film circuit is where most of the creative buzz is these days. That’s why Netflix likes to pick up streaming rights to smaller projects, bringing them to a large audience—acting like theaters but at home. What made Knives Out stand out was having an actor like Daniel Craig in the lead role. Johnson had done directing before but with only 4 movies to his name and some TV credits. He was also behind what I consider the worst Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi. Taking all of that into account, it was a risk that turned out to be worth it.

Glass Onion (2022)

It’s been a couple of years since I seen this, but I can still remember the plot. People are invited to a private island, including Daniel Craig, which becomes a murder scene. It’s a classic mystery island trope but runs with it. The coast and that massive glass dome just stick in your mind. Just a fun murder mystery.

It pokes fun at the tech billionaire thing, proving again just how self-aware it can be. It’s more over the top than the first one. Characters are much bolder, mocking influencers and the like. They are flawed characters which you can relate to, yet you can still see human elements in them. Very relevant in terms of story, too. It takes a similar concept and does something different with it.

Wake Up Dead Man (2025)

Now, let’s talk briefly about the new one. The movie is based on a Catholic church; a priest who is flawed is sent to help a church out. Pretty much everybody here is flawed in some way. The storytelling device shows us from the priest’s point of view what happened—so working backwards before Daniel Craig enters the story to help solve the mystery. Quite a good setting for a murder mystery movie.

It’s quite an introspective movie. Faith plays a key part here which makes it even stronger and throws curveballs at you. There are Christian themes with it being focused on the Catholic Church, which ties things together quite nicely for the genre. It’s also a fabulous insight into human nature, a reflection on society at the moment around truth and information. Showing us how people who are leaders or trusted people close by are the ones we take cues from.

Movie is star-filled too—you’ve got Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Andrew Scott, and Josh O’Connor.

Final Thoughts

So getting back to things, is Wake Up Dead Man worth watching? The answer is yes. Followed with watch the rest. It does not overwhelm you, telling a story in a compelling way. I don’t really watch movies that often, but this one I liked loads.

What’s common between all three stories? Relatable characters, all flawed, coming together in these high-pressure situations. I think this latest one is the best version yet, which is shocking really. Normally stuff gets worse not better. But here it feels grounded, improving with each release. You can watch each one on its own and they stand alone; you don’t need to watch everything. That’s a sign of a good story.

You could end things now and I would be fine with that, or we could get more, hoping the quality remains high. Not sure what he could do next but there are plenty of tropes he could tackle. I had my doubts about Rian Johnson after Star Wars, but he has shown here he can really deliver. Perhaps it shows when he has creative freedom he can do more. When he’s trapped with somebody else’s source material he doesn’t understand, it doesn’t work. Maybe he just needed the experience, but whatever it was, Rian has done a great job here. I’m looking forward to what he does next.