REVIEW: ‘Knives Out’ saga returns to form with ‘Wake Up Dead Man’

After a decline in quality with the second installment, Rian Johnson gets his murder mystery series back on track with part three.

“Wake Up Dead Man” is the latest stand-alone investigatory flick featuring private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig). This time around, the mystery is set in upstate New York and revolves around a church where a death has taken place.

The victim is Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, a rather loud pastor with an aggressive style in his sermons. The small congregation of the church point the blame at the young, idealistic priest Jud (Josh O’Connor), who was at odds with Wicks, but claims innocence.

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REVIEW: ‘Missing’ manages to keep audiences glued to the (fictional) screen

It can be hard to catch lightning in a bottle twice. Yet “Missing,” while not as strong as its predecessor “Searching,” manages to be another fun screen-based mystery.

The movie is connected to the previous installment by only a small reference at the start. In this picture, the focus is on June (Storm Reid), a young woman who lives with her mother Grace (Nia Long). The movie picks up with Grace about to leave on a vacation with her new boyfriend Kevin (Ken Leung) while June stays home.

Left alone while her mom is away, June does some partying before Grace is set to get back. However, on the date Grace’s plane is to arrive, she’s nowhere to be found and there’s not much information as to why. Sensing something is wrong, June begins researching what happened to her mother on her computer, and begins unraveling dangerous secrets.

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REVIEW: ‘The Little Things’ has little to offer the detective genre

Denzel Washington is once again doing detective work in California but this time, it’s not a training day.

Washington plays Joe Deacon, who casually goes by Deke. A former detective, Deke now works as a sheriff deputy with a normal beat. He mostly stays in his own lane, but at the movie’s start, he’s brought in to give some experienced advice on a new murder case.

The case is being primarily helmed by Jim Baxter (Rami Malek), a young detective who’s already making a name for himself as a talented inspector. While the two are at first not thrilled about working together, they eventually decide they can figure this puzzle out better by working side-by-side. The film explores them doing so and also begins revealing why Deke made a career change.

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