Rian Johnson’s latest Benoit Blanc mystery, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, lands as a welcome throwback to classical whodunits while daring to wedge bigger cultural questions into the frames. The film opens in select theaters before streaming on Netflix, and it leans darker than its predecessors by setting its impossible crime inside a small-town church — a bold choice that forces viewers to reckon with faith, hypocrisy, and redemption.
Daniel Craig returns as the Southern-accented detective Benoit Blanc and is surrounded by an all-star ensemble that includes Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Kerry Washington, and other capable names who give this chapter real acting heft. Johnson’s choice to stage the mystery around clergy and a congregation gives the film texture Hollywood rarely embraces anymore — moments of genuine moral seriousness rather than the usual smug, self-satisfied satire.
Netflix rolled Wake Up Dead Man into theaters for awards consideration before dropping it onto its platform on December 12, 2025, a commercial strategy that shows streaming giants still crave prestige even as they bend release windows to their will. That distribution gambit has drawn big audience attention and renewed debate about whether streaming platforms or old-school theaters shape culture more aggressively.
Critics have responded warmly — many calling this darker, more gothic take one of the franchise’s best entries — and Rotten Tomatoes shows a strong approval that suggests the public notices when filmmakers take risks instead of lecturing. What matters for conservatives isn’t merely the score, though; it’s that a mainstream film treats faith and moral struggle with something resembling respect, rather than the usual condescending parade of caricatures.
Rian Johnson himself has signaled he’s not done with Benoit Blanc, teasing conceptual thinking about a fourth mystery while he takes a breather to work on other projects — which means the cultural conversation around these films will keep rolling. For those of us who care about storytelling over sloganeering, that’s welcome news: the best conservatism in art is found not in direct propaganda but in works that revive virtues, mystery, and order.
Conservative voices like Ben Shapiro have stepped in to review and critique the film, and watching his take is part of a necessary corrective to Hollywood’s reflexive leftward sermonizing. Shapiro’s audience wants evaluations that consider narrative craft, character stakes, and the film’s cultural message — not the thin, partisan applause line too many critics sell as insight.
This film is an argument against the idea that serious stories about faith automatically equal reactionary claptrap; Wake Up Dead Man treats religious belief as a living, complicated thing, not a prop to be mocked. That alone should give conservatives pause before reflexively attacking Hollywood, and it should give us hope that honest artistic work can still break through the noise.
So hardworking Americans who are tired of being lectured at by smug studios should do what conservatives have always done: go see the movie, judge it on its merits, and vote with their dollars. If we want art that respects faith, family, and moral clarity, we must reward filmmakers who dare to include those themes rather than allow the culture to be dominated by cynics who mistake shouting for subtlety.
