Why is “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “violent content, bloody images, strong language, some crude sexual material, and smoking.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes several discussions of self-stimulation, discussions of a woman becoming pregnant out of wedlock, a body and body parts dissolving in acid down to the bones, a young girl being punched in the face several times by a woman, a man being stabbed in the back and dying, a man being stabbed in the chest and dying, a man dying after swallowing a large jewel, a few punches and a reference to a man suffering a broken jaw from a punch and another man dying in a boxing ring, many arguments and at least 1 F-word and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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In the third installment of the Netflix whodunit series featuring detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) a controversial Catholic priest (Josh Brolin) is murdered in a manner inspired by classic “locked door mysteries,” and the prime suspect is a young priest (Josh O’Connor), who seemingly could not have done it. Also with Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, Thomas Haden Church, Jeffrey Wright and Annie Hamilton. Directed by Rian Johnson. [Running Time: 2:24]

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery SEX/NUDITY 3

 – A man taps a woman on the clothed buttock as she walks past him; she turns around, but smiles as she continues walking.
► A woman is described in numerous scenes as a “harlot whore” and we are told that she had two children with drifters. During his confessions (several times), a priest describes having masturbated a number of times and in a variety of settings. A man confronts another man with the fact that he had had a prostatectomy and therefore would be unable to achieve an erection.
► Many large line drawing depictions of male genitalia are shown on the outside of a large crypt as a man washes the paint off. A woman wears a low-cut full slip that reveals cleavage and her bare legs to the upper thighs. A man’s body is shown on a morgue table and we see his bare chest, abdomen, partial hip and legs to the knees.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery VIOLENCE/GORE 6

 – Two men walk into a basement and react to an odor; we see a green liquid in a large tub and skeletal remains are revealed when it is drained and another body is slumped over the side of the tub with its arms in the liquid; we see that the flesh has been eaten away exposing bone. The wall of a crypt breaks open and a man steps out from the darkness inside; we see this scene a few times in a recording); another man follows the man and is punched by someone in the shadows, and falls into mud where he awakens holding a bladed weapon that has stabbed another man in the chest. A man is stabbed in the back with a long blade. A man walks into a small anteroom during a church service, we hear a thud and see him lying on the floor motionless; another man investigates and we see blood on the man’s back and the other man’s hand and what looks like a knife in the motionless man’s back (we later see a pool of blood under his body). A man swallows a large jewel and falls dead. After a man is rendered unconscious, and his body is slid down a flight of stairs. A woman pounds on the wall of a crypt and collapses dead from an aneurysm. A man falls dead at the altar of a church.
► A woman straddles a young girl and punches her in the face several times (we see some blood on the child’s mouth). A man punches another man in the face and he flips around and stumbles (we hear that he suffered a broken jaw and the man that did the punching is seen with bruised knuckles). A man punches another man in the stomach and then kicks him a few times while he is on the ground; the injured man gets up and holds his fists up trying to defend himself and they argue. A man slaps a woman’s hand when she points at him and accuses him of something; the woman is startled. A man throws a book at another man. An inebriated man rides his bike and throws an object toward a church breaking one of its windows. A man punches a heavy bag repeatedly in anger. A man says that he killed another man in a boxing ring. A woman in a rage breaks icons and tears paintings in a church; she pulls a large cross off a wall and it shatters items on the altar.
► The severely decayed remains of a corpse are seen in a coffin. A man’s body is placed in a coffin and carried to a crypt where the door is secured. A man’s body is shown on a morgue table and we see discolored flesh (please see the Sex/Nudity category for more details); he is turned over onto his abdomen and we see the body flipped with a loud thud. A sculpture representing Jesus is shown on a cross and the body is in a decayed state with ribs and bones evident.
► A man threatens another man saying, “I will cut you out like a cancer.” A man tells a woman that her father would be ashamed. A man tells another man to “burn them off like leeches.” A man preaches to a congregation and becomes enraged. A man convinces a woman to confess her deepest sin and the priest hearing her confession stumbles out of the confessional, seeming alarmed by what he heard. A woman talks about her mother being in hospice and having a tumor in her brain; she describes arguing with her and fearing that that will be the last thing she remembers of her. A man describes living on the street and struggling with addiction before becoming a priest. A remark is made about a liberal hive mind.
► A man drinks heavily and talks about his wife leaving him; he throws a glass at a photo of the woman and the glass shatters. A woman holds an axe and a man is startled when she appears abruptly. We hear that a man constructed a moat around his house and we see him filling it with water from a garden hose. A woman uses a wheelchair and we are told that she suffers from debilitating chronic pain.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery LANGUAGE 5

 – At least 1 F-word, 6 sexual references, 24 scatological terms, 4 anatomical terms, 12 mild obscenities, name-calling (the world is a wolf, dumb, killer priest, heretic, bastard, false priest, punk, insane, survivalist freaks, selfish, garbage, opportunistic, unhinged, angry, libtard, idiot, conman, sick, outhouse fire, truthers, façade, bitter hag, hypocritical, boot-licking idiocy, irreverent clown, your father’s nightmare, desperate little man, loyal little idiot, sad flock of losers, weak, rats, [anatomical term deleted] warrior, feminist Marxist whores, PINO [priest in name only], monsignor jalapeno, nuts, flock of wicked wolves, paranoid, evil incarnate, weird, bad seed, harlot whore), exclamations (jeez, frickin, freaking me out, mishegoss, what the holy heck), 1 religious profanities (GD), 25 religious exclamations (e.g. Jesus, full of Christ, betrayed by Judas, son of God will rise again, praise God, the will of God, God is a fiction, Hail Mary, hallelujah, God bless you, Christ, God’s healing truth, God, faith in God to heal me, my God, what the Holy heck, blasphemy). | profanity glossary |

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery SUBSTANCE USE

 – We hear that a flask was spiked with a powerful tranquilizer causing a man to fall unconscious after drinking from it, and we hear that coffee has been spiked with a poison and the lips of the person that drinks it turn blue. A man talks about being a recovering alcoholic, two men are described as drinking buddies, a man drinks from a flask in a few scenes, a man drinks heavily in a few bare scenes and he appears to be inebriated, a man drinks a glass of whiskey and smokes a cigar, a woman drinks a glass of whiskey and smokes a cigarette, a man is accused of going to work drunk, and people (including a priest) drink in a bar scene. A woman smokes cigarettes in several scenes, and a woman smokes a cigarette in her home.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Power, envy, corruption, wealth, grace, legacy, miracles, political aspirations, locked door mystery, homophobia, cruelty, religion as storytelling, guilt, social media, anger and fear, vanity, vindictiveness, zealots, cult of personality, shaming, bubble of belief, original sin, betrayal, testing tolerances, complicity.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery MESSAGE

 – There’s always a rational explanation for apparent mysteries.