After watching Wake Up Dead Man, I ranked all 3 Knives Out movies — and one might surprise you

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, the third movie of Rian Johnson's Knives Out series, was just released on Netflix on Friday, Dec. 12 after a short theatrical run. With all three Knives Out movies out in the world, I ranked all three of the movies starring Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc from worst to best.

It feels like I've been waiting forever to rank the Knives Out movies, and we finally three movies to rank, with hopefully many more on the way. The good thing about this franchise is that there are no bad movies, and because they're all so different, and good, many people will probably have a different favorite. It's all a matter of preference.

With that, let's get the ranking started with my least favorite Knives Out movie, Glass Onion.

3. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery premiered on Netflix in 2022. It's the first Netflix movie of the bunch. And, it's probably the least well-received of the series so far, but that's not a bad thing, necessarily! It's still a good movie. Tonally, it's very different from the first and third mysteries, and I think that threw viewers off a little bit.

Glass Onion follows Benoit Blanc to a remote island where tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) is hosting a gathering of his friends. Hijinks ensue.

Like the other movies, Glass Onion has an incredible cast. Kate Hudson, Janelle Monáe, Leslie Odom Jr., Madelyn Cline, Jessica Henwick, Dave Bautista, and Kathryn star alongside Craig and Norton.

For me, Glass Onion is still a very good mystery and a good movie, but it's just not quite at the level of the other movies. The cast is the strength of the film, and Johnson definitely played to the strengths of each performer.

2. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Wake Up Dead Man just dropped on Netflix on Friday, Dec. 12, and it's already on its way to be a smash hit! It's definitely the Netflix movie to watch before the end of the year.

This time, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is investigating the death of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). That's all I'm going to say because it's more fun for those who haven't seen the movie that to talk about all the twists and turns right now.

This was such a tough decision. Honestly, I don't know how I came to the conclusion that Wake Up Dead Man is the second-best Knives Out movie because I think it's great. I really enjoyed almost all of it. The story is good. It's hilarious, much funnier than I thought it would be, but probably less silly than the first two movies of the franchise.

The performances in Wake Up Dead Man are as good as any in the series so far. Craig is, of course, fantastic as Benoit Blanc. I loved Josh O'Connor, Josh Brolin, and Glenn Close the most in this movie, though. They were terrific.

A lot of outlets are calling Wake Up Dead Man the best Knives Out movie. For me, it's just a tad short of that title. I'm splitting hairs here, but I also feel like there was a little too much set up in Wake Up Dead Man. The movie dragged a bit at times, for me, but I usually tend to like shorter movies. Overall, Wake Up Dead Man didn't feel too long, but it's more the feeling than anything, you know? Like when a movie feels long, that's not necessarily a good thing.

And, for those reasons, the best Knives Out movie is...

1. Knives Out

Knives Out, to me, is still the best movie in the franchise. I don't know if that feeling I got when I watched the first movie has been topped in the second or third movie, and that's why I'm going with Knives Out as the top movie.

Knives Out tells the story of Benoit Blanc, who arrives at the home of famous novelist, Harlan Thromby (Christopher Plummer), who died in his home under somewhat suspicious circumstances. Blanc assists detectives in figuring out how Harlan actually died.

The film hit theaters in 2019, but this movie doesn't feel like a 2019 movie. It's like a callback to the great mysteries and whodunits. It's like if Clue came to life in movie form. It's almost perfect!

In mystery movies like this, you don't see casts like this very often, except for the other Knives Out movies. Craig stars alongside Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ana de Armas, LaKeith Stanfield, Toni Collette, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Katherine Langford, and more. Having such a successful cast definitely elevated this movie, and it likely opened the door to so many awesome actors joining future Knives Out movies.

So, that's my ranking of the Knives Out movies! To recap, I'm surprised a little bit by the reception to Wake Up Dead Man so far, but it's a really, really good movie. Josh O'Connor is perfect alongside Daniel Craig, but I still like the first one a little bit more.

Hopefully, we get to add more Knives Out movies to this ranking in a few years. Stay tuned for more news about a fourth movie.