Composer Nathan Johnson gives each of the Knives Out films a unique sound.

As Johnson explained on stage at Deadline’s Sound & Screen: Film event, the 2019 original used a string quartet to capture the claustrophobia of a New England mansion. Glass Onion opened up with an orchestra to reflect the Greece location. In the new Wake Up Dead Man , Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) investigates the death of a monsignor seconds after his last sermon.

“For this one, it’s darker,” Johnson said. “We’re going Edgar Allan Poe. We’re going gothic.”

Johnson, the cousin of Knives Out writer-director Rian Johnson, explained how he delivered that musically.

“Rian really wanted me to push into a bit more of this underlying dread,” the composer said. “The very first thing you hear in the movie and fi

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