Few filmmakers working today have proven they know how to stage a murder mystery in quite so accomplished a fashion as Rian Johnson – and now the writer/director has returned with a third twisty entry in his popular Knives Out series.
The victim of the crime is Josh Brolin's Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), the Parish Priest of a small church in upstate New York who has built up an extremely devoted posse of congregants thanks to his somewhat domineering presence in the pulpit.
But Blanc is not so convinced. And after asking Jud to write down his own version of events, he slowly begins to get to the bottom of who was really responsible for Wicks's murder – and almost as importantly, just how it was accomplished. And the more is revealed, the more additional questions are thrown up...
Seen the film and need the final moments unpacked? Read on to have the Wake Up Dead Man ending explained, with the obvious warning that this is a spoiler-heavy zone from here onwards.
Wake Up Dead Man ending explained: Who killed Monsignor Wicks?
Naturally, Jud tries to get a closer look at this seemingly supernatural sight, but as he rushes towards the scene he is knocked out, and wakes up sometime later next to Samson, who has been killed.
Meanwhile, Jud has a gap in his memory from when he was unconscious, and begins to believes that he must have killed Samson. However, his attempts to turn himself in to the authorities are instantly prevented by Blanc, who has himself made some progress in his investigations.
But when Jud and Blanc then head to Nat's house to apprehend him, things take an even stranger turn. They find that Nat's body – very much dead – is dissolving in a tub alongside Wicks's. Upon seeing this, Blanc calls the police and the rest of the suspects to the church.
With Jud still determined to hand himself in, assuming that he was somehow involved, the sleuth then begins to explain what's really been going on. He reveals that it was Nat who had been responsible for the Monsignor's murder, having indulged in some trickery involving swapping one of the devil ornaments for another. Beyond that, however, he says he is stumped, and allows the remaining congregants to leave.
What does Martha confess in Wake Up Dead Man?
She tells him that, as a child, she had seen Wicks's grandfather – the former Parish Reverend – swallow a valuable diamond known as "Eve's Apple" before his death, determined that it should not be passed down to his daughter, Wicks's mother, Grace.
When Martha believed the newly arrived Jud was doubting how committed she was to Wicks, she had then revealed the whereabouts of the diamond to the Monsignor, which explains why he had ordered the construction crew to dig up the mausoleum, where his grandfather was buried.
But with Wicks going increasingly off the rails and promising to humiliate his congregation, she decided something needed to be done to stop him and ordered Nat to sort out the killing. She then got the trusty Samson to pose as Wicks's corpse and take his place in the mausoleum, the idea being that he would then emerge from the tomb after taking the diamond from the elder Wicks's corpse.
What no one had counted on was Jud stumbling upon the scene, which naturally complicated matters. Nor had Martha guessed that Nat would do what he did next: attempt to take the diamond for himself by killing Samson and framing Jud for his murder.
In fact, Nat had even tried to go further by trying to fatally poison Martha as well, but she had cottoned on to his plan and swapped their drinks just as he tried to put things into action, such that he perished instead. She had then placed his corpse in the acid alongside Wicks, which explains the sight Blanc and Jud had earlier walked in on.
Of course, it also becomes clear that Blanc hadn't really been stumped at all – when is he ever stumped? – but had simply wanted to show grace to Martha by offering her the chance to confess herself and thus allowing her to seek forgiveness.
What happened to the Eve's Apple diamond in Wake Up Dead Man?
Jud insists he has no idea where it us, but in the very final shot – as he welcomes a new batch of parishioners to the church, we see that it is now hidden on a brand new crucifix, which has finally been replaced for the first time since Grace had trashed the church all those tears ago.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is now showing in select UK cinemas and is coming to Netflix on 12th December. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
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