A Knives Out Mystery filmed in Essex church

Last summer, in a peaceful corner of one of England’s oldest forests, birdsong met the microphones.

Around 60 people make up the congregation of the Church of the Holy Innocents on High Beach in Epping Forest, but none of them are as famous as Daniel Craig, Glenn Close or Mila Kunis.

But these were just some of the Hollywood stars who traveled to this remote location to shoot. Last Knives Out movie Wake Up Dead Man.

Although the series is known for its star-studded cast, shooting locations are just as critical.

While the first film had the classic crime setting of a grand old mansion, its sequel, Glass Onion, was set on a billionaire’s private island.

In the final film, the small Essex church replaces a neo-Gothic church in upstate New York.

The crew’s chaplain, Reverend Jane Yeadon, wanted to be on set during filming so much that she wrote it into the contract.

This was to help preserve the church, built in 1873, and to ensure no one stepped on any graves, but also because he was and remains a huge fan of the series.

He says that during filming in the summer of 2024, the area around the church became “busier than Piccadilly Circus”, describing the experience as “surreal”.

Close was surprised when he introduced himself and shook her hand, and started giggling when Mila Kunis mistook him for an extra and not a real priest.

“It’s understandable. It’s a movie set in a church with a lot of priests… but he was so embarrassed and kept apologizing,” he says.

Although the church has occasionally been the location for student films, it has never hosted a commercial production like this before.

Location manager Rachel Hyde said every inch of the cemetery and surrounding roads were used for filming, while the interior of the church became the actors’ green room.

“The whole of London is so busy shooting these days because there are so many films, so it’s great to be using the Inner Counties more and more,” he says.

What the crew didn’t know until they started shooting was that the forest had a long history of ghost stories.

Rachel says the locals will enjoy telling them stories about the forest being haunted by the ghosts of legendary bandit Dick Turpin, Queen Boudicca, and many more.

Did this add to the spooky, murder mystery feel of the film?

“The players and Rian [Johnson, the film’s writer-director] “He knew one thing, we were more on the sidelines,” he says.

Apparently the stories scared off some of the security crew who had to guard the set late at night.

Although no one would say how much money the church received for hosting the filmmakers (the information is considered commercially sensitive), the amount was enough to fund some much-needed repairs.

Given that it is a Grade II listed building, restoring the church’s boundary wall or renovating the church organ does not come cheap.

But the economic benefits of Hollywood coming to town would be felt far beyond this backwoods.

The Essex Film Office believes Wake Up Dead Man contributed more than £1.3 million to the local economy after food, travel and accommodation were taken into account.

It is thought that with the film’s release, Epping Forest will see an increase in “screen tourism”, especially given the global appeal of the series.

Erica Gilson from the film office says: “It’s really exciting what opportunities may open up to showcase Essex traveling domestically and internationally.”

Ms Yeadon, meanwhile, is looking forward to seeing the entire film as she has only seen certain scenes shot on location so far. Leavesden Studios in Watford was used for the interior scenes.

During filming, Johnson invited him to sit in the director’s booth so he could see how the church looked on screen.

On the last day of shooting, he told her that he had met the movie’s killer and asked her to guess who he was.

“That caught me instantly and I gave him some answers and I’ll be interested to know if I’m right,” he says.

“I want to see what happens as much as anyone else!”

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will be released in select theaters and on Netflix starting December 12.