‘Wake Up Dead Man’ REVIEW: A surprisingly poignant and fun mystery
‘Wake Up Dead Man’ REVIEW: A surprisingly poignant and fun mystery
Josh O’ Connor as Father Jud Duplenticy and Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc / Photo taken from Netflix
I’ve always found faith a tricky thing to write about. And you truly cannot write a review about the newest installment in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out film series, Wake Up Dead Man, without talking about faith and our relationship to it in the modern day.
I’m someone who grew up Catholic. I went to an all-girls school, where we went to mass every first Friday and recited the books of the Bible by heart. As I grew older, my relationship with faith changed. I found it comforting, but became frustrated with the rigidity of practice and all the rules of organized religion. It felt suffocating where I wanted it to feel easy.
At its heart, Wake Up Dead Man is about the mystery of faith, more than the actual locked room mystery present in the film. When this film was announced, I was immediately curious about what kind of mystery the story would revolve around. The first film is a classic Clue-esque story, complete with trapdoors and hidden evidence. The second is a vacation mystery, set on the island of a Musk-esque billionaire. It made sense to me that the third would be a locked room or an impossible mystery. Johnson loves playing in and with the conventions of the mystery genre, which is one of the reasons I love this series so much. There’s always an aspect of the world that they want to tackle through the mystery, which is what makes the world so rich and fun.
The Knives Out franchise’s newest protagonist comes in the form of Father Jud Duplenticy, a kind-hearted boxer-turned-priest who is sent to Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude after he punches out an asshole deacon. Following on the heels of Marta and Helen, Father Jud is a good man who simply wants to help people find peace through Christ’s love and teachings. Josh O’Connor delivers yet another beautiful, earnest performance in this. I wish I could say even more, but it’s already been said. He is phenomenal as Father Jud. I truly felt for the character and was with him the whole way.
Standing in his way is the head of the Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude — Monsignor Wicks. Wicks is everything that modern megachurches and corrupt politicians like about religion. He is the symbol of shaming, anger, and tradition that often causes hatred to fester or for people to step away from the church. In fact, in the film, it is that which leads to the formation of the Wicks’ flock, made up of a colorful and devoted cast of characters.
Andrew Scott as Lee Ross, Mila Kunis as Chief Geraldine Scott, Daryl McCormack as Cy Draven, Glenn Close as Martha Delacroix, Kerry Washington as Vera Draven, and Cailee Spaeny as Simone Vivane / Photo taken from IMDb
While I think this is my favorite of the three (so far), I actually think it has the least for the ensemble to do, which seems like a shame. The film is much more of a study of Father Jud and Benoit Blanc’s unlikely partnership. That’s not to say that Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Jeremy Renner, Dary McCormack, and Cailee Spaeny get nothing to do. I could clearly see them having fun with the scenes that were given. I just would’ve liked for them to be involved more.
Also by Wick’s side is Martha, one of the caretakers of the church, played by Glenn Close. She is pitch-perfect in the role, and every time she was on screen, she was magnetic. As Glen Close often is. When she and Josh O’Connor are on screen, it feels like watching magic happen.
My favorite aspect of the film is the relationship between Father Jud and Blanc. From one of the very first scenes, I loved the contrast in their beliefs and the respect they had for each other’s points of view. After Blanc remarks on his relationship with religion and how he finds it to be a story he finds hard to believe in, Father Jud asks, “Do these stories convince us of a lie? Or do they resonate with something in us that is profoundly true? That we can’t express in any other way. Except storytelling.” It’s a beautiful sentiment that shows two perspectives on religion, and one of the many scenes that resonated with me as someone who’s often questioned my own relationship with religion and faith. There’s another beautiful scene involving a phone call and unexpected kindness that made me tear up on my couch, because it reminded me of just why people find comfort in religion. At the end of the film, I think even Blanc comes away with fresh ideas, even if it doesn’t change his beliefs.
Which, in itself, is a perfect choice by Johnson. Blanc doesn’t need to believe. Father Jud believes enough for the both of them.
So, really, Wake Up Dead Man is not about the mystery of the Good Friday murder. There are no hidden doors or dangerous hydrogen fuel. It’s much simpler than that. It’s about the mysterious ways that our devotion to faith makes us act. How does it inspire goodness and forgiveness in some and anger and hatred for people in others? What place does it have in modern society, and how can we make sure we’re all actually following what faith should be? There are no exact answers to this, as Blanc realizes himself. And maybe that’s what makes it so powerful in the first place. Perhaps faith, religion, all of it — is an unsolvable mystery, even if you’re THE Benoit Blanc.
‘Wake Up Dead Man’ is available to stream on Netflix.
