Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery — What reasons did each of the regulars have to kill Wicks?

In Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, murder essentially preaches from the pulpit. Rian Johnson’s third Benoit Blanc outing swaps its usual tech bro playgrounds for a rural church.

Here, Monsignor Jefferson Wicks dies after a Good Friday sermon. And while the killing looks impossible, the motives are everywhere, to say the least.

Wicks was hoarding power under the guise of faith, and nearly everyone around him had a reason to want him gone. Some wanted justice, others money. So read on to know how Wake Up Dead Man turns its ensemble into a lineup of potential murderers and why each of them might have picked up the knife.

Everyone's reasons to kill Wicks on Wake Up Dead Man

1) Jud Duplenticy

Jud is a boxer-turned-junior pastor, and let's be real, he looks guilty. He despises Wicks’ hateful sermons and his chokehold on the congregation.

Jud represents a compassionate Christianity, and Wicks undermines him at every turn. With a suspicious nine-second window where Jud is alone near the body, the motive seems to be to stop Wicks before he poisons more souls. But Jud’s anger is not murderous, as his conflict with Wicks is ideological.

2) Martha Delacroix

Martha is the church’s administrator and has the most complicated kind of guilt. She knows where Eve’s Apple is hidden and how corrupt Wicks has become. When she realizes he will desecrate her grandfather’s body to get the gem just to spread hate, Wake Up Dead Man viewers see her snap.

Martha’s motive is to preserve. She really believes killing Wicks is the only way to save the church from becoming a megaphone for cruelty.

3) Dr. Nat Sharp

Nat is the most classic Knives Out-style suspect as he is brilliant but now spiraling. This doctor, an alcoholic and a failure, sees Wicks’ secret drinking problem as both a leverage to get his way with the otherwise fearful man.

His motive is human, as he wants to fix his life with one theft. In a story full of lofty ideas about faith, Nat’s motive is mundane, and that’s why it works.

4) Cy Draven

Cy is a failed far-right politician and, for that very reason, views Wicks as a stepping stone. Their shared worldview makes them allies, yes, but it also makes them rivals. Cy wants the influence Wicks has, so killing him would mean inheriting an audience without competing for the spotlight.

While Cy doesn’t wield the knife himself, his ambition does sort of fuel the entire conspiracy. He represents the danger of religion as a brand.

5) Samson Holt

Samson is the church groundskeeper and Martha’s lover. He has no hatred for Wicks but is religiously devoted to Martha.

He is willing to be entombed in Wicks’ place as part of the fake resurrection plan, so we see his love can become fatal obedience. Samson’s “motive” is to sacrifice himself, and that’s what makes him pay the price of blind loyalty.

Who is the real killer on Wake Up Dead Man?

Dr. Nat murders Wicks on Wake Up Dead Man.

But Wake Up Dead Man doesn't stop there. We see that Wicks' death is so layered with its secrecy and self-righteousness. Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc exposes the mechanics and the horror of how faith can be a weapon.