'Wake Up Dead Man': Fresh faces join Daniel Craig in new 'Knives Out'

London (dpa) – The third entry in the "Knives Out" series is again stacked with big names. Ex-007 Daniel Craig returns as eccentric detective Benoit Blanc, the lone constant across the three films, though he now wears his hair longer. Newcomers include Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Jeremy Renner, Andrew Scott and Kerry Washington. The Netflix production will play in cinemas for a limited time before arriving on the streaming service from December 12. The priest in training and former boxer Father Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor) has been punished with a transfer to a small US backwater town, where he is to assist the local priest, Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), who is far from pleased. The charismatic cleric, who insists on being called Monsignor Wicks, is a powerful figure for the congregation. His sometimes very aggressive style is highly controversial among colleagues and drives away members. After a mysterious death, Duplenticy falls under suspicion. Police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) asks Blanc for help. Cracks appear in the community’s pious façade. The devout Martha (Glenn Close), the lawyer Very (Kerry Washington), her loathed half-brother, conservative influencer Cy (Daryl McCormack), the doctor Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner) and the author Lee Ross (Andrew Scott) – almost everyone in Wicks’s parish has a motive. Blanc shows up noticeably late here compared to "Knives Out" and its sequel "Glass Onion". Most Agatha Christie books work exactly like this, writer-director Rian Johnson explained to dpa. In the first act you meet all the suspects, get a feel for the whole scene and already have a sense of who the victim might be. And then — bang — the murder happens at the end of the first act, and that’s exactly when the detective comes into play, Johnson said. The current political climate — especially in the United States — provided Johnson with plenty of inspiration. In particular, Brolin’s character will, to many, evoke US President Donald Trump. The film is not political, however. Like the first two instalments, "Wake Up Dead Man" is again a gripping and amusing "whodunit" that thrives above all on its impressive cast. The following information is not intended for publication dpa pde xxde coh

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