“Wake Up Dead Man” and the Whodunnit Renaissance

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Dec 11, 2025

The murky waters of modern whodunnits are explored, revealing a cultural saturation thanks to streaming services. Rian Johnson's latest venture intertwines humor, social critique, and the classic locked-room mystery. The hosts discuss the transformation of detectives into relatable, flawed characters while highlighting the genre’s commentary on societal issues. They also delve into how amateur sleuthing reflects a disturbing trend of civic distrust. Cozy murders become an unexpected form of rebellion against privilege, blurring lines between fiction and contemporary life.

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INSIGHT

Why Whodunits Still Hook Audiences

The whodunit thrives on a cloistered cast, shifting suspicion, and a charismatic detective who invites the audience to play along.
The genre's enduring appeal comes from recognizable types and the satisfaction of resolution after uncertainty.

ANECDOTE

Knives Out Goes To A Parish

Wake Up Dead Man is set in a crumbling Catholic parish and opens with a baffling locked-room murder during mass.
Benoit Blanc arrives to untangle motives among parishioners, and Josh O'Connor's haunted priest anchors the ensemble.

INSIGHT

How Rian Johnson Modernizes The Form

Rian Johnson preserves whodunit bones but layers contemporary politics and lifestyle detail to modernize the form.
The new mysteries probe money, manners, and declining institutions with humor and social observation.

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We all know the formula: it begins with a dead body, and quickly introduces a motley crew of outlandish characters, each with a motive for murder. The whodunnit genre has been a cultural fixture since the days of Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie—the latter of whom has been outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Recently, though, the murder mystery has achieved a new level of saturation, with streaming services offering up a seemingly endless supply of glossy thrillers. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss how these new entries are updating the classic form. “Wake Up Dead Man,” the latest of Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” movies, slyly incorporates social commentary, while shows like “Search Party” and “Only Murders in the Building” poke fun at the figure of the citizen sleuth. In our era of conspiracy theories and vigilante actors, there’s also a dark side to the archetype. “This desire to be the hero and to follow the logical trails and take things into your own hands—it's very appealing, if you do it right,” Schwartz says. “It’s great if you catch the right guy. If you don’t, and you catch the wrong one, the entire foundation of society crumbles.”

Read, watch, and listen with the critics:

“Knives Out” (2019)
“Glass Onion” (2022)
“Wake Up Dead Man” (2025)
“Big Little Lies” (2017-)
“The White Lotus” (2021-)
“And Then There Were None,” by Agatha Christie
“Rian Johnson Is an Agatha Christie for the Netflix Age,” by Anna Russell (The New Yorker)
“The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side: A Miss Marple Mystery,” by Agatha Christie
“Only Murders in the Building” (2021-)
“Nicole Kidman Gives Us What We Want in the Silly, Soapy ‘Perfect Couple,’ ” by Vinson Cunningham (The New Yorker)
“The Residence” (2025)
“The Adventure of the Speckled Band,” by Arthur Conan Doyle
“Search Party” (2016-22)
“The Hound of the Baskervilles,” by Arthur Conan Doyle
The “Encyclopedia Brown” books
“Clue” (1985)

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Critics at Large is a weekly discussion from The New Yorker which explores the latest trends in books, television, film, and more. Join us every Thursday as we make unexpected connections between classic texts and pop culture.

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