Wake Up Dead Man

Released 2025. Director: Rian Johnson

RIAN JOHNSON IS HIS OWN WORST ENEMY. The man has set a high bar ever since he claimed dominance in the murder-mystery genre with Knives Out, a rollicking, breathtakingly clever, proper entry in the genre worthy as a successor to Agatha Christie in terms of screen adaptation.

Wake Up Dead Man is the third instalment and Johnson continues to find variation in his story structure and style while faithfully maintaining the essential elements. There's a closed-door murder, there's a group of suspects, the victim is a figure of authority, everyone has a reason to want him (always a man) dead, and everyone has the opportunity and motive.

The same detective Benoit Blanc returns with a new hairstyle, his Southern twang less pronounced for some reason and Daniel Craig seems less enthusiastic playing him this time. The action takes place at a church and the cast comprises enough wattage to power a few defibrillators: Josh Brolin is Monsignor Wicks; Glenn Close has known Wicks all her life; Jeremy Renner is a local doctor; Andrew Scott is a sci-fi author; Kerry Washington is a lawyer; Jeffrey Wright is a bishop; Cailee Spaeny is a cellist with an illness; Daryl McCormack is a podcaster with political ambitions; Mila Kunis is the chief cop; Thomas Haden Church is the groundskeeper; and Josh O'Connor is the newly arrived junior priest, who is really the co-lead besides Daniel Craig and who also delivers an affecting performance rather unexpected in a whodunnit ensemble.

The man who ends up being murdered this time is the hypocritical Monsignor of Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude, played with unfettered bitterness and ungodly fixation on masturbation for a clergyman by Josh Brolin. When the outspoken and charismatic leader threatens to expose the sins of his flock, he's crucified by one or more traitors among his faithful, then miraculously “resurrected” out of a crypt. On Easter Sunday, no less.

Johnson's plotting is again tightly written, which makes the viewing experience enjoyable even though his ensemble is less engaging as a group this time. Some characters are vivid, a few are rather bland and forgettable. Josh O'Connor, the young priest who clashes with Monsignor in matters of faith and how to promote the holy word, is the most developed, the only person we know is innocent yet destined to be sacrificed as the prime suspect if he doesn't (with help from Blanc) figure out the nefarious web of lies and hidden truth fast enough.

Wake Up Dead Man is less fun and more serious compared with its predecessors. There's a murmur of a message beneath the sleuthing as Johnson attempts to comment on the spell that religion casts on the converted, the grip of inter-generational emotional detritus and plain old greed, the indispensable element in most murders. Johnson paints a picture of the insidious power of a cultish parish and how perceptions can be warped and truth twisted. At times the movie feels uncharacteristically heavy, when you consider the playful and comic tone that underscored the last two Knives Out movies, in particular Glass Onion.

All three Knives Out movies boil down to greed after a fortune that the perpetrator(s) feels either entitled to or robbed of. Wake Up Dead Man is a satisfying whodunit whether or not the contemporary references on religion and power register. God may work in mysterious ways, Johnson uses logic and reason and never cheats in the construction of his mysteries, even when he raises a man from the dead. Hallelujah!

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