When I saw that Rian Johnson’s third “Knives Out” movie, Wake Up Dead Man, centered around a Catholic church, I went giddy with joy. The Catholic Church is a singular institution, ripe with millennia of mythology and ritual, a sacred space whose very name conjures up its all-encompassing-ness (“catholic” more or less meaning “universal” in Greek). Thus, it’s an institution ripe for some laughs—and a mystery based in awe.
The first two iterations of “Knives Out” struck a deft and specific tone: funny without being cloying, mysterious without resorting to easy solutions, boasting an A-list cast without being dumbed-down blockbusters. And yet blockbusters they were, with the first earning over three hundred million in revenue on its way to becoming a cult classic. Glass Onion, its sequel, was less well-received, though still tremendously smart and enjoyable.
Wake Up Dead Man builds on that legacy, finding aw-shucks southern detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) in a small Catholic parish in upstate New York to solve “the Good Friday murder”: the local priest, Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, has been killed. Josh Brolin is excellent as Wicks, whose diatribes on revenge, confessions of elaborate masturbations, and obsession with power cast a dark contrast to new arrival Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor), a simple and optimistic new pastor who is sent to the parish as a near-punishment after punching out a fellow priest for talking nonsense; Duplenticy is an ex-boxer, after all. Wicks and Jud soon come to blows themselves; Wicks tolerates no dissent, and Father Jud sees reason to offer it.
Monsignor Wicks, with his homilies on divine retribution not-so-subtly aimed towards his “harlot whore” of a mother (played in flashbacks with fanatical gore and tenderness by social media darling Annie Hamilton), has driven droves of his flock away from Our Lady Of Perpetual Fortitude—leaving only a hardened crust of followers, including Martha, the church’s do-it-all secretary (Glenn Close), and Samson, her adoring husband and the church's groundskeeper (Thomas Haden Church).
“Knives Out” fans know this game well by now: each character brings with them their own ideology that reinforces their connection to the murder victim. In Wake Up Dead Man, the group dynamic revolves around power and faith. Town doctor—and drunk—Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner) needs to believe that he can get his wife back; Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny), disabled concert cellist, relies on Wicks for the promise of healing, and donates her entire savings to the church to get it.
But for this iteration of the franchise, many of these characters are written as disposable. Andrew Scott as a best-selling novelist escaping the woke liberals doesn’t add much, if anything, to Monsignor Wicks’ tight-knit circle, and Spaeny’s cellist mostly exists to prove Wicks’ uncharitableness; he takes her money as he promises that her legs will someday work again—if she keeps giving. Better utilized are characters like Vera Draven, played with an even-keeled intensity by Kerry Washington, and her steely-eyed adopted son Cy Draven, played by Daryl McCormack, whose quashed political ambitions soon turn to rage-bait influencerism. The scenes of Cy slyly hauling out his massive live-streaming rig inside the church are pure comedy.
The movie isn’t short on scares either, using the visage of Brolin as a sort of universal patriarchal horror. Johnson lets the bumps and jumps land right where they need to; he’s a master at letting all the tension out right before pushing the viewer in a different, unexpected direction.
Johnson takes his time with the story, explicating the entire timeline of the murder from Father Jud’s perspective before we even see Benoit Blanc step foot in the town. But when we do, the clash of worldviews becomes plain: Blanc, in his hardboiled detective materialism, sees the Church as a massive wad of hooey, whereas Jud cannot help but see the reality of redemption, faith, and mercy that the Church, at its best, espouses.
Ultimately, this is a movie about faith: understanding who killed Wicks, and how, might just depend on whether you’re willing to believe. As Blanc, Craig nails the balance between his southern-gentlemanly workaday brilliance and the faith generated in this oppressive atmosphere, one aided by a simulated sun and cloud cover outside the stained glass walls of the church that worked to massively convincing effect. And O’Connor, whispering words of comfort to a grieving parishioner, made a character whose roots are in violence feel so tender that tears came to my eyes.
For me, Wake Up Dead Man is the most impressive and enjoyable yet of these three very enjoyable films—and it leapfrogs Glass Onion as the stronger sequel of the two. Since 2005’s Brick, Rian Johnson has made a practice of writing thoughtful, off-kilter thrillers, and the “Knives Out” series might be seen as the biggest and most impressive accomplishments in his career. No word on whether or not we’ll get a fourth “Knives Out” movie. I guess we’ll just have to have faith.
