Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery | ENDING (RE)EXPLAINED
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re re-explaining the ending of “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” unpacking its deeper meaning and themes. Naturally, you should watch the film first, because otherwise, spoilers!
“Wake Up Dead Man” is a locked-room mystery, in which a seemingly impossible crime occurs in a confined space that a perpetrator somehow infiltrates. The film references classic locked-room mysteries like John Dickson Carr’s “The Hollow Man.” Sheridan Le Fanu’s “A Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess” and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” have been cited as the first locked-room mysteries ever written. Yet, there’s arguably another that predates them all: “The Bible,” specifically Matthew 28, when Jesus’ tomb is found empty. Okay, that’s a stretch, but it is technically a mystery that happened in a concealed room. While some believe the body was stolen, Jesus appears to his disciples, which is all the proof they need of his miraculous resurrection.
Of course, Monsignor Jefferson Wicks is far from a Christlike figure. He doesn’t even have a cross hanging in his church, serving as a reminder of his shamed mother, Grace, who died desperately seeking the diamond, Eve’s Apple. Wicks’ father took the diamond’s whereabouts to his grave… in more ways than one, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. One other person knew where Wicks Sr. stashed the jewel. As a little girl, Martha Delacroix saw Wicks consume the forbidden fruit before dying. Rather than share this information with Grace, Martha taunted her before she too died. Martha carried this guilt into adulthood, getting it off her chest in confession. What Martha didn’t realize was that she confessed to Msgr. Wicks, who now knows the diamond’s location.
This isn’t the only discovery Wicks recently unearthed, as Cy Draven is revealed to be his illegitimate son. Using Eve’s Apple, Draven plans to fund his political career with his father by his side. Wicks decides to leave his church and his faithful flock, who would’ve followed him to Hell. That was until he threatened to destroy all of them. This gave everyone a motive when Wicks walked into another room during a sermon, suddenly dropping dead on Good Friday. Dr. Nat Sharp discovers a knife in Wicks’ back with a red devil head. While many people had a reason for wanting Wicks dead, all of the suspects were in the adjacent room when it happened. It’s a case that only Benoit Blanc can crack.
Blanc receives help from Reverend Jud Duplenticy, who is himself a suspect. While Duplenticy has a violent past, he’s dedicated his life to redemption and helping others. Where Duplenticy wants to bring people together, Wicks got a kick out of dividing them, only thinking about himself. Although morally superior to Wicks, Duplenticy is no angel himself, still prone to violent outbursts when pushed too far. It appears Wicks might’ve brought out Duplenticy’s inner devil when Blanc deduces that the reverend took the victim’s flask, which went missing from the crime scene. The small space where Wicks took his dying breath isn’t the only locked-room mystery. A few days after Wicks dies, around Easter Sunday, another resurrection supposedly takes place.
Wicks was buried alongside his father in a sealed tomb. As Duplenticy runs through the courtyard on a rainy night, the tomb opens, and Msgr. Wicks seemingly emerges. The mysterious figure punches Duplenticy’s lights out. When he awakens, Duplenticy finds the body of Samson, the groundkeeper, by his side. While the evidence against Duplenticy is piling up, Blanc eventually turns his attention to the real culprit: Dr. Sharp, whose skeleton is discovered in his basement, alongside Wicks’ unearthed corpse. Blanc pieces together that Sharp poisoned Wicks’ flask. The blood and red devil head were already planted on Wicks before he died, being triggered after he took a swing from his flask. Sharp proceeded to insert the knife while inspecting the body.
Although Sharp was unable to reclaim the flask before Duplenticy got to it, everything else was going to plan. Sharp didn’t work alone. An unsuspecting Samson was convinced to be buried in the tomb in Wicks’ place. Once inside, Samson grabbed Eve’s Apple from Wicks Sr.’s skeleton, where it had lain all these decades. A security camera would capture Samson, disguised as Wicks, emerging from the tomb, making it look like a miracle. What they didn’t count on was Duplenticy arriving on the scene. Samson knocked Duplenticy out before he got a good look at his face, but Sharp wasn’t content sharing Eve’s Apple. He stabbed Samson and set the unconscious Duplenticy up as the murderer.
Yet, there’s still the matter of how Sharp ended up in a tub with his flesh melted off. Blanc has the explanation, but he chooses not to say it. Although Blanc isn’t a man of faith, his experience with Duplenticy has shown him how religion can have a positive effect on people. In the hands of greedy and manipulative false prophets like Wicks, it can be weaponized. With a leader like Duplenticy showing people the way, though, it can bring comfort, redemption, and closure. Blanc thus decides to let the only remaining accomplice confess. Once the other suspects exit the church, Martha spills her soul to Duplenticy and Blanc. She conspired with Sharp to kill Wicks and take Eve’s Apple.
Killing Samson wasn’t part of the plan. Martha had convinced Samson to participate in the scheme. He went along, no questions asked. Samson placed his faith in Martha, who felt as if she had let an innocent man down. Martha knew that if Sharp killed Samson, she’d follow. Dropping by Sharp’s house, Martha pieced together that he spiked her tea. With his back turned, Martha switched the glasses, causing Sharp to inadvertently poison himself. She disposed of the body and snatched Eve’s Apple, but Martha can’t live with what he’s done. Blanc can see in Martha’s eyes that she’s poisoned herself. As much as Blanc enjoys explaining things, he gives Martha the courtesy of being able to confess her greatest sins before departing this earth.
Martha’s fate is similar to that of Ernestine Dumont in “The Hollow Man.” In that novel, the housekeeper is revealed to have been an accomplice. She confesses her involvement before taking her life. The only loose end is what Martha did with Eve’s Apple. Duplenticy and Blanc needn’t look far, as Martha drops it after she succumbs to the poison. Blanc chooses to turn a blind eye, letting Duplenticy decide what to do with Eve’s Apple. The diamond might be Cy Draven’s inheritance, but he’ll surely use it to buy as many votes as possible as he climbs the political ladder. Duplenticy has seen how men like Wicks can ruin lives, even with a small platform. Draven would continue his father’s example on a national scale.
Although Draven and his attorneys are suspicious, they can’t prove that Duplenticy took the apple. Duplenticy resists the temptation to use the diamond for his own gain. Like the actual apple that Eve bit into, it’s better left untouched by all. Taking over Wicks’ church, Duplenticy finally constructs a large cross to hang. Inside the heart of Jesus lies Eve’s Apple, which is where it shall remain. In doing so, Duplenticy also brings grace back into the church. There’s just one more mystery: where was Hugh Grant’s Phillip during all of this? We gotta get him to at least make another cameo in the fourth film!
What did you think of “Wake Up Dead Man?” Let us know in the comments.
