Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (3 stars out of 4)
Starting with 2019’s “Knives Out,” director Rian Johnson’s series of murder mysteries have taken on a sequence of safe targets. The first movie pointed the finger at the wealthy entrenched aristocracy, where 2022’s “Glass Onion” set its sights on the second jet-setting tech bros and online influencers. Now, “Wake Up Dead Man” zeroes in on another culturally beleaguered group: religious people.
“Dead Man” revolves around a mysterious murder that takes place within a small Catholic congregation in upstate New York. The victim is Mons. Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), whose fiery sermons had actively alienated and repelled all but his most devout core group of worshippers. Concerned over the Monsignor’s Colonel Kurtz-like descent into the heart of papal darkness, higher authorities send a troubled young priest (Father Jud Duplenticy, played by Josh O’Connor) into the jungle to get Wicks under control. But after Father Jud’s efforts to inject a little charity into the group fail to take root, Wicks suddenly turns up dead in the middle of a service, and the Monsignor’s followers have an easy suspect.
Insert Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), Johnson’s own southern-drawling Hercule Poirot, to solve the case. After a heartfelt conversation in the beautifully-lit chapel, Blanc is convinced that Father Jud is not the perpetrator, and so he recruits the despondent priest to help him root the true killer out of the congregation.
What follows is a suspenseful if somewhat overlong journey to unpack just what happened to Wicks, and why. Without giving away anything too critical, the good news is that the film ends in a satisfying place. But the journey frequently leaves you wondering whether you’re watching a murder mystery or a critical examination of organized religion.
As with the two previous films, the various suspects in “Wake Up Dead Man” represent a cross-section of mostly two-dimensional stereotypes connected to the target subject. In this case, the fanatical zealot (Glenn Close) and the shallow aspiring Republican politician (Daryl McCormack) headline a group that some might have described as “bitter clingers.” Gratefully, this group is contrasted with Father Jud, who might be one of the most flattering characterizations of a true believer in recent memory. Boosted by a sincere performance from O’Connor, Father Jud makes for a sympathetic protagonist who is easy to cheer for.
When you aren’t distracted by characters or themes, “Wake Up Dead Man” serves as an entertaining vehicle that does just enough to be fair to its subject, and should be a satisfying entry for fans of the series.
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“Wake Up Dead Man” is rated PG-13 for violence, profanity, and some crude sexual content.