By John Corrado
Despite being the latest case for Daniel Craig’s Southern detective Benoit Blanc, director Rian Johnson’s third Knives Out whodunnit Wake Up Dead Man actually shifts the focus to a young priest played by Josh O’Connor. It’s a bit of a reset that works for the Netflix franchise.
In fact, Blanc is mostly absent from the film’s first act, as Johnson sets up the Good Friday murder he will come to investigate. The result is a mostly entertaining mystery, that weaves in deeper themes of faith. It’s not as good as first Knives Out, but better than the bloated second (Glass Onion).
O’Connor stars in the film as Father Jud Duplenticy, a young priest who is sent to a small town parish to assist Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). Wicks is the leader of a small congregation, that Father Jud comes to view as more akin to a cult. This allows Johnson to set up his usual star-studded cast of characters, including the church’s caretaker Martha (Glenn Close) and groundskeeper (Thomas Haden Church).
The ensemble cast is rounded out by Andrew Scott, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Cailee Spaeny, and Daryl McCormack as members of the church’s flock, and Mila Kunis as the local police chief investigating the case. But it’s once again Craig who steals the show as soon as he arrives on the scene as the flamboyant Blanc, doing his usual schtick of piecing the mystery together. O’Connor is also a standout as the young priest, with the two often tag-teaming together.
Some of the political stuff feels heavy-handed. Johnson’s more self-satisfied impulses, that overwhelmed Glass Onion, do occasionally come through; his chronically online commentary that never moved past, at best, 2020, and an insistence on being too clever by half that borders on smugness. The supporting characters are mostly stereotypes, and the film runs long at nearly two-and-a-half-hours.
But Wake Up Dead Man has enough other themes beyond being another eat-the-rich satire to remain pretty engaging throughout, with an intriguing setup and murder mystery that mostly comes together in an enjoyable way. Johnson introduces more gothic mystery elements into the film’s aesthetic, and weaves in a religious element as well.
Johnson doesn’t quite have the reverence to fully grapple with these themes. But he does scratch at something more interesting through Father Jud’s sincere adherence to his faith, leading to a few back-and-forths with the atheist Benoit Blanc. If religion is built on stories, they debate, are those stories lies, or revealing of a greater truth? It’s enough to keep us engaged in this latest case.
Film Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)
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