Critics are praising Netflix's upcoming mystery thriller Knives Out 3 following its premiere at Toronto Film Festival. The threequel, officially titled Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, has debuted at a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 96% ahead of its November release.
The first reviews are describing it as "twistier" and "darker" than the previous installments, Knives Out and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and promising "Rian Johnson's best and most ambitious Benoit Blanc installment yet" (via Awards Radar).
"Johnson is just having fun, but he also sneaks a winking level of spiritual inquiry into this edge-of-your-brain mystery-thriller," wrote Variety's Owen Gleiberman.
"Wake Up Dead Man is twistier, darker, and more emotional than the previous two installments, in which Johnson explores ideas of faith and logic and the mythologizing that gets us through the day – all in a brilliant murder mystery," said Collider's Rose Bonaime.
"Although Wake Up Dead Man is the Knives Out movie that's most preoccupied with existential questions surrounding death, writer/director Rian Johnson’s third film in the series is also the one that’s most full of life," wrote Chase Hutchinson on TheWrap.
"A series that’s really found its footing again, a wealth of fun to be had in ways that are constantly surprising, a franchise fully woken up," added The Guardian's Benjamin Lee.
Netflix unveiled today a first trailer for the movie, which sees Daniel Craig reprising his role as detective Benoit Blanc as he faces the murder of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) and a new list of suspects with the help of Father Jud Duplenticy (Josh O'Connor).
The suspects include devout Catholic Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close), local doctor Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), uptight lawyer Vera Draven (Kerry Washington), best-selling author Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), former concert cellist Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny), aspiring politician Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack), and groundskeeper Samson Holt (Thomas Haden Church). Additionally, Mila Kunis appears as local police chief Geraldine Scott.
According to the official synopsis, this is Benoit Blanc's "most dangerous case yet" as the "seemingly impossible murder rocks the town" and "defies all logic".
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is set to hit theaters on November 26, before heading to Netflix on December 12. For more, check out our list of the best Netflix movies, or keep up to date with the most exciting upcoming movies in 2025.
