Wake up, mystery fans — a new Knives Out thriller has arrived. The third film in Rian Johnson’s whodunit series, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, hit theaters for a limited run on Nov. 26 before it drops on Netflix on Dec. 12. True to its predecessors, Wake Up Dead Man stars Daniel Craig as Southern detective Benoit Blanc, who must solve a puzzling murder case in which a number of colorful characters are suspects.

While Knives Out had Blanc solve a case at a wealthy author’s estate and the second film in the series, Glass Onion, took him to a private billionaire’s island, Wake Up Dead Man brings Blanc to a small church in upstate New York for what director Johnson told Netflix’s Tudum is his “most personal journey” yet.

“It’s more similar to the first Knives Out in that it gets back to the real origins of the genre, which predate Agatha Christie, going back to Edgar Allan Poe,” Johnson told the outlet, noting that it’s still “funny and fun.”

Here’s what else to know.

What is Wake Up Dead Man about? Is it connected to the other films? 

Without spoiling too much, Blanc’s Christie-meets-Poe mystery centers on a murder at the church, where young priest Jud Duplenticy, played by Josh O’Connor, is assisting the local priest, Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, played by Josh Brolin. After Wicks dies and Blanc is set to investigate, all eyes turn to Jud, who hated the monsignor. As Jud grapples with his faith, and police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) assists Blanc with his investigation, the film unravels a twisted mystery where multiple members of Wicks’s flock look guilty as sin. But who actually is responsible for what Blanc calls an “impossible” crime?

Watch the trailer below:

Do I need to watch Knives Out and Glass Onion to understand Wake Up Dead Man? 

While Wake Up Dead Man presents another mystery for Blanc to solve, each film is a standalone murder mystery. And while Blanc is returning, don’t worry too much about not knowing his background.

“I really love, in my mystery detectives, for them to be kind of enigmas. It pointedly doesn’t work when you start digging into backstory with the detective,” Johnson previously told the Associated Press. “That’s always kind of boring because character is only revealed through action and the action of a detective is such a strong thing. He’s there to solve the case.”

Who is in Wake Up Dead Man? 

The cast of Wake Up Dead Man includes a slew of heavy hitters — including one star who previously played a “hot priest” and another who is currently starring alongside Kim Kardashian on Hulu’s All’s Fair.

• Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc

• Josh O’Connor as Father Jud Duplenticy

• Glenn Close as Martha Delacroix

• Josh Brolin as Monsignor Jefferson Wicks

• Mila Kunis as Geraldine Scott

• Jeremy Renner as Dr. Nat Sharp

• Kerry Washington as Vera Draven

• Andrew Scott as Lee Ross

• Cailee Spaeny as Simone Vivane

• Daryl McCormack as Cy Draven

• Thomas Haden Church as Samson Holt

What are critics saying about Wake Up Dead Man? 

Critics have had great things to say about the modern detective mystery. Wake Up Dead Man currently holds a 92% score on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, making it Certified Fresh. Knives Out holds a 97% score, while Glass Onion has a 91% score.

Many people were particularly impressed by O’Connor’s performance. The critic for TV Guide praised O’Connor, writing that the Challengers actor “delivers a remarkable performance that's comically deft one moment, touching the next, and intense throughout.” The Observer called him a “stand out even in a heavy-hitting cast.”

The Ringer, meanwhile, wrote, “The movie’s plot points may be manufactured, but O’Connor’s soulfulness is organic. He carries the movie as far as he can and speaks something fresh into Craig’s acting, which is as enjoyably flamboyant as ever but also taps a potent reservoir of secular anguish and doubt.”

Will there be another Knives Out film after Wake Up Dead Man?

So far, Netflix has only ordered the two most recent films from Johnson in the Knives Out universe, having paid $469 million for the sequel. However, both Johnson and Craig have expressed a desire to make more, should the right opportunity arise.

“If each one of these can really be what Agatha Christie did, if it can be not just in a totally new location and a new cast, but also trying something exciting, I’ll keep doing it as long as Daniel [Craig] and I are having a good time,” Johnson told Variety in 2022. “I’ll keep making these as long as they let me.”

In a 2024 interview with Deadline, Craig also teased that he would be willing to make a fourth Knives Out film if Johnson “keeps writing them like that.”