Netflix’s Hilarious Wake Up Dead Man Mistake Addressed By Rian Johnson

Rian Johnson addresses a hilarious Netflix mistake in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. Johnson’s third Knives Out movie brings Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) to a small town where he investigates the seemingly unsolvable death of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin).

On X, Johnson notes that in the scene where Blanc first comes to the church and speaks with Father Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor), the Netflix captions have Blanc saying, “Telling the truth can be a belly rub.” Johnson clarifies that the line is actually “Telling the truth can be a bitter herb.” He is amused by the mistake, though, and says, “I almost don’t want to tell Netflix.” Check out the post below:

The majority of the comments underneath the post also express amusement, while admitting that they accepted the line presented in the captions. A common sentiment is that many viewers heard the line as “belly rub” and simply accepted it as one of Blanc’s unique aphorisms that works well for his character, who finds comfort and great importance in the truth.

At the time of this writing, Netflix has not updated the caption to the original line.

The error may partly be attributed to the thick, over-the-top, Southern accent that Craig uses in his portrayal of Blanc. It makes “bitter herb” sound surprisingly close to “belly rub.” The accent has been a key facet of Blanc’s character across all the Knives Out films, where the detective has been the only character to appear in all three installments.

While Johnson and viewers who caught the error are amused by it, Wake Up Dead Man‘s reviews have also been mostly positive. Along with Craig’s portrayal of Blanc being well-received, O’Connor’s performance has received significant praise, as has the movie’s thoughtful exploration of genuine faith and those who exploit it.

Wake Up Dead Man has a 92% critical score and 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. This is higher than both scores for the second film, Glass Onion (2022). The original Knives Out (2019) has the best critical score in the series at 97%, but Wake Up Dead Man has the series-best audience score.

In addition to Craig, O’Connor, and Brolin, the star-studded cast of Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery includes Glenn Close as Martha Delacroix, Jeremy Renner as Nathaniel Sharp, Mila Kunis as Geraldine Scott, Kerry Washington as Vera Draven, Daryl McCormack as Cy Draven, Andrew Scott as Lee Ross, Cailee Spaeny as Simone Vivane, Thomas Haden Church as Samson Holt, and Jeffrey Wright as Langstrom.