Knives Out 3 ending explained as Wake Up Dead Man hits Netflix | Films | Entertainment

Warning – this article contains major spoilers for Wake Up Dead Man

Wake Up Dead Man has been released on Netflix today (Friday, 12th December) and it could be the best Knives Out mystery yet.

James Bond star Daniel Craig returns as the world famous detective Benoit Blanc to unravel another mystery, this time within the halls of a church in the small town of Chimney Rock.

When young priest Reverend Jud Duplenticy (played by Josh O’Connor) finds himself the prime suspect of the seemingly impossible murder of the ruthless Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), Blanc is called in to investigate.

He eventually discovers that Wicks’ small but devoted parish all have a reason to want him dead, but who was actually behind the murder?

Let’s take a look at how the latest Knives Out sequel concludes now it’s finally available to stream.

Who is the killer in Wake Up Dead Man?

The latest Knives Out film, Wake Up Dead Man, once again features an incredible all-star ensemble cast of A-list stars, any one of whom could have been revealed as the killer.

They include Jeremy Renner as local doctor Nat Sharp, Kerry Washington as lawyer Vera Draven, Daryl McCormack as her son, Cy Draven, Andrew Scott as sci-fi author Lee Ross, Cailee Spaeny as cellist Simone Vivane and Thomas Haden Church as groundskeeper Samson Holt.

Also joining Blanc in his investigation is Mila Kunis as Chimney Rock’s police chief Geraldine Scott.

However, it’s actually Wicks’ right-hand woman, Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close) who is revealed to have been behind the murder, albeit with a little help.

When Jud first arrives at the church, Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude, Martha reveals to him that Wicks’ grandfather, Reverend Prentice Wicks (James Faulkner), had promised his mother Grace (Annie Hamilton) an immense fortune upon his death, only for it to disappear when he actually died.

Furious, Grace ransacks the church and destroys its crucifix, which Wicks has refused to replace all these years later.

When the Monsignor seemingly rises from the dead, his body later found with the skeleton of Dr Sharp, Blanc and Jud investigate further and discover the fortune had never disappeared and had, in fact, been used to purchase a precious diamond which Prentice swallowed, taking his own life.

Martha had kept this secret for decades but was determined to retrieve the diamond and escape the church. Enlisting the help of Nat, they stage Wicks’ ‘impossible’ death by attaching a dupe of the murder weapon, a knife attached to a wolf’s head ornament from the local bar, to his vestment rigged with a squib of fake blood.

When Wicks collapses after drinking from his hip flask, which had been laced with tranquiliser, in a small storage room next to the pulpit, Jud is framed when he sees him fall to the floor and discovers the fake blood, seemingly the only person with an opportunity to deliver the killing blow. However, once Jud had left the room, Nat switches the ornaments and stabs Wicks while pretending to examine the body.

Desperate to restore faith in the church, Martha staged Wicks’ resurrection by convincing Samson to be buried in his place. Samson retrieved the diamond from Prentice’s corpse before emerging from the tomb in view of Jud, disguised as Wicks. Nat betrays Martha by killing Samson in a bid to take the diamond for himself, but Martha tricks him into drinking the poisoned coffee intended for her and dissolves his body in an acid bath, staging the scene to make it appear the risen Wicks had strangled him.

After explaining the initial murder, Blanc admits he can’t explain Wicks rising from the dead and dismisses the rest of the congregation. Martha then confesses to the crime, having drunk the rest of the poison, and dies in Jud’s arms while he performs her last rites.

A year later, Jud is reopening the church as Our Lady of Perpetual Grace while Cy, who is revealed as Wicks’ illegitimate son and the heir to Prentice’s fortune, threatens to sue him if the diamond isn’t found. He feigns ignorance but, in the last scene of the film, the diamond is revealed to have been hidden in the church’s new crucifix built by Jud.

Wake Up Dead Man is available to stream on Netflix.