Wake Up Dead Man ending explained: Who killed Monsignor Wicks?

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**Warning: Contains spoilers for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.**

I’m a big fan of Rian Johnson, and I think he’s become a master at making really clever murder mysteries. I was so excited to see his third film in the Knives Out series – he just knows how to keep you guessing!

In Wake Up Dead Man, Daniel Craig returns as the unconventional detective Benoit Blanc, facing his toughest challenge yet. The mystery is so complex that he initially believes it’s unsolvable – an “impossible crime.” The script draws inspiration from classic “locked room” mysteries, particularly John Dickson Carr’s novel The Hollow Man.

Josh Brolin plays Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, a priest in a small New York church. He’s gained a very loyal following through his strong and commanding style of preaching.

Everyone, including Police Chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis), initially suspected Reverend Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor). The young Reverend, a former boxer, was sent to the town as a disciplinary measure after assaulting a deacon. He and Wicks didn’t get along from the start, which seemed to give him a strong reason to be involved.

Blanc remains skeptical. After asking Jud to recount what happened, he starts to uncover the truth about who actually killed Wicks—and how they did it. But each new revelation only leads to more mysteries…

Wondering what happened at the end of Wake Up Dead Man? We’ve got you covered with a full explanation of the final moments. Be warned: major spoilers ahead!

Wake Up Dead Man ending explained: Who killed Monsignor Wicks?

From the very beginning, this case is incredibly strange, but it becomes truly bizarre one night when Jud witnesses something unbelievable: Monsignor Wicks seemingly rising from his tomb in the mausoleum and being welcomed by the groundskeeper, Samson (Thomas Haden Church).

Of course, Jud was curious and tried to investigate the strange event, but he was knocked unconscious while running towards it. He later woke up lying next to Samson, who had been killed.

Still trying to understand what’s happening, he gets a call from the construction company. They tell him that, before his death, Wicks had requested the mausoleum be opened.

Jud can’t remember what happened while he was unconscious and fears he may have killed Samson. He tries to confess to the police, but Blanc stops him, revealing he’s already uncovered some important clues.

He previously mentioned a devil statue—the object used in the murder—was missing from a bar. Now, he tells Jud there were actually two statues, and one was stolen by a member of Wicks’s church, Doctor Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner).

When Jud and Blanc go to Nat’s house to arrest him, they discover an even more bizarre situation: Nat’s body is dissolving in a bathtub, along with Wicks’s. Shocked, Blanc immediately calls the police and gathers all the suspects at the church.

Even though Jud insisted on taking responsibility, believing he might be involved, the detective began to explain the truth. He revealed that Nat was the one who murdered the Monsignor, having cleverly switched one of the devil figurines for another. However, he admitted he had no further clues and let the remaining church members go.

What does Martha confess in Wake Up Dead Man?

The situation is still unfolding. Now that everyone else has left, Martha Delacroix (played by Glenn Close), who used to be the Monsignor’s closest assistant, returns to the church and asks Jud if she can confess something to him.

She explained that when she was a child, she witnessed Wicks’s grandfather – who used to be the local priest – swallow a precious diamond called “Eve’s Apple.” He did this on his deathbed, wanting to prevent his daughter, Grace (Wicks’s mother), from inheriting it.

After that, Grace became obsessed with finding the diamond, and in her frantic search, she wrecked the church – something we’d already witnessed in a previous scene.

Martha suspected Jud didn’t believe she was loyal to Wicks, so she told the Monsignor where the diamond was hidden. That’s why he instructed the construction crew to excavate the mausoleum – the final resting place of his grandfather.

As Wicks became more erratic and threatened to embarrass his followers, she realized she had to intervene and told Nat to eliminate him. She then enlisted Samson, a reliable associate, to pretend to be Wicks’s body and lie in the mausoleum. The plan was for Samson to emerge from the tomb after stealing a diamond from the deceased elder Wicks.

So, here’s the really clever part of the scheme. The idea was that I, playing as Wicks, would be filmed ‘escaping’ from the tomb. They wanted the footage to make everyone think Wicks had actually come back to life and vanished – a total illusion, of course, but one they hoped would fool the world.

No one anticipated Jud arriving on the scene, which immediately made things more difficult. Furthermore, Martha didn’t realize Nat would try to steal the diamond by killing Samson and then blaming Jud for the crime.

Actually, Nat went even further, trying to kill Martha with poison. But she figured out his plan and switched their drinks at the last moment, causing him to die instead. She then disposed of his body in the acid, along with Wicks – which is what Blanc and Jud discovered when they arrived.

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Knowing Blanc had discovered her secret, she quickly finished the poison. Now, as she confessed everything and asked for forgiveness, she was dying.

It quickly becomes apparent that Blanc wasn’t actually puzzled by the situation – it’s rare to see him truly stumped, after all. He’d simply been kind to Martha, giving her an opportunity to confess and potentially find forgiveness.

What happened to the Eve’s Apple diamond in Wake Up Dead Man?

The movie concludes with a quick glimpse into the future, showing Cy Draven (played by Daryl McCormack), who used to be part of Wicks’s church, still searching for the diamond a year later.

Jud claims he doesn’t know where it is, but the last scene reveals it’s now hidden on a new crucifix. This crucifix is a replacement for the original, which was damaged when Grace caused trouble in the church a long time ago.

Cue the end credits, accompanied by Tom Waits’s Come On Up to the House.

Authors

Patrick CremonaSenior Film Writer

Patrick Cremona writes about movies for TopMob, covering new releases in theaters and on streaming platforms. He’s been with the site since October 2019, and during that time, he’s interviewed many famous actors and reviewed all kinds of films.

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2025-12-12 17:36