Rian Johnson preaches faith, murder in Wake Up Dead Man
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RIAN Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man is the third entry in his Netflix-backed Knives Out franchise and it might be the most focused of the three.
Wake Up Dead Man is less absurd than Glass Onion and leans more into philosophy, character and moral tension than focusing on making a big spectacle.
The biggest shift this time is where the film places its emotional weight. Instead of centering everything on Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc, the story largely belongs to Josh O’Connor’s Father Jud Duplenticy, a former boxer turned priest. After punching a deacon, he is sent to serve at a rural parish run by the openly hateful Monsignor Jefferson Wicks.
Making Jud the main focus brings the series back to something closer to the first Knives Out where Ana de Armas’ Marta became the emotional anchor. Blanc is present but sidelined, only appearing around 20 to 30 minutes into the film.
Wake Up Dead Man follows Father Jud after he is sent to a remote rural parish where a sudden death draws the attention of famed private detective Benoit Blanc, pulling the tight knit church community into a tense investigation.
As the case begins to resemble an impossible crime and suspicion quickly turns toward Jud himself the mystery unfolds against a backdrop of faith, guilt and moral hypocrisy, balancing dark humour with quiet introspection while questioning the line between belief and truth.
Josh O’Connor carries the film
O’Connor is excellent. You can feel every ounce of guilt, denial and restraint in his performance. Jud wants to do good. He wants to let go of his ego and past violence, but he is surrounded by deeply unpleasant people and constantly forced to fight for his innocence.
What makes the performance land is that he never lashes out physically even when you can see how badly he wants to. It is a controlled and quietly painful turn and easily the film’s performance that came through the strongest.
Benoit Blanc steps aside
Daniel Craig looks like he is having a great time even with reduced screen time. After being front and centre in Glass Onion, Blanc takes a backseat here.
Still every scene he appears in is delightful. Craig leans into Blanc’s quirks and playful eccentricity and the film benefits from not overusing him. His dynamic with Jud is arguably the heart of the film. Their ideological differences paired with genuine empathy and easy banter give the film warmth and meaning that goes beyond the puzzle.
Surprisingly beautiful film
Visually, Wake Up Dead Man is stunning. You would not expect a rural church setting to compete with the locations of the previous two films but it absolutely does.
Johnson’s framing is sharp and deliberate and the lighting is especially impressive. Indoor scenes subtly shift in ambient light and his use of broken stained glass imagery gives the film a distinct visual identity and repeatedly pulls the audience’s focus.
Halfway through the film, there is a moment of pin drop silenece where the tone flips almost completely. A scene that begins as something fairly funny suddenly becomes deeply sad and reflective.
Strong performances unevenly used
Josh Brolin’s Monsignor Wicks is downright vile to the core. He preaches hate with confidence and cruelty and honestly has everything coming to him. Glenn Close is excellent as Martha Delacroix and manages to be deeply frustrating in exactly the right ways.
The problem is that many of the side characters feel underused despite a strong ensemble. Kerry Washington’s character hints at years of repressed anger but her eventual explosion does not really go somewhere. Cailee Spaeny feels the most wasted with very little to do. Andrew Scott’s novelist is interesting on paper but underused and he does struggle at times to fully hide his Irish accent. Mila Kunis is possibly miscast and feels oddly out of place.
By contrast, Jeffrey Wright is excellent even with minimal scenes and Annie Hamilton delivers an underrated performance as Grace Wicks. Her anger is raw and confrontational and leaves a strong impression despite limited screen time.
After appearing only once in Glass Onion, Hugh Grant does not return as Benoit’s husband Philip in Wake Up Dead Man.
Mystery and message
The mystery itself is not especially hard to decode. It may be the most obvious culprit of the trilogy, but Johnson understands that the appeal lies in how the pieces fit together.
His use of memory and shifting recollections returns here much like in The Last Jedi. Different versions of events subtly reshape how the audience perceives what really happened and the visual changes make the film rewarding on repeat viewings.
Thematically Wake Up Dead Man is Johnson at his most direct. Kindness, religion, guilt and his aversion to right wing ideology are central to the story. The film explores the danger of mixing faith with hateful politics and even toys with the idea that what might be at play is something supernatural.
Quiet yet confident entry
Overall, this is Johnson doing it again but in a more restrained way. Less flashy than Glass Onion, more emotionally grounded than Knives Out.
It is darker, quieter and more conspiratorial and because of that the mystery feels fuller.
Different and arguably the most interesting Knives Out film yet. Truly a shame audiences do not get to enjoy it on the big screen.
