“Wake Up Dead Man” pulls off a lot of difficult maneuvers for a film with aplomb. A clever whodunnit? A meditation on faith? A large ensemble picture with fully fleshed out characters? Writer/director Rian Johnson performs all these highwire acts excellently to deliver an outstanding movie that is wildly engaging in narrative, subtext, imagery, and more. It’s not just a thoroughly entertaining story, but “Wake Up Dead Man” also manages to have substance amidst the detective shenanigans. Taking place in a combative church environment with an atheist gumshoe at the fore, Johnson’s movie does a better job of showing the positive power of religion as well as how easily it can be corrupted and weaponized than any supposed faith-based feature that’s been released in recent years.
Following an altercation, Father Jud (Josh O’Connor) has been relocated to a new parish with a rather difficult leader, Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). Wicks rules his rural church with an iron fist, assisted by Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close) and the groundskeeper, Samson (Thomas Haden Church). It’s a small but devoted flock (Andrew Scott, Kerry Washington, Jeremy Renner, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack) with Wicks constantly turning his ire against any outsiders, including Father Jud. When Wicks winds up dead in an apparently impossible manner, Father Jud finds himself as the prime suspect and the target of much hatred by the congregation. Soon after, the sheriff (Mila Kunis) brings in renowned private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) to help solve the case and the young priest works closely to clear his name as the case twists and turns in unexpected ways.
“Wake Up Dead Man” is a genuinely impressive film and a great entry in the “Knives Out” series. While it’s a different animal than “Glass Onion” (or even the original entry), Johnson still finds ways to bring in the same dialogue flourishes, character moments, and social critique that have run through all the Blanc stories. The whodunnit isn’t as compelling as it could’ve been, as it’s not that hard to guess the culprit, but it’s less about uncovering the murderer and more about traveling through the motive and how the killing came about. It’s also a beautiful looking movie thanks to the production design team and cinematographer Steve Yedlin, who come up with wonderful ways to frame these terrific looking spaces while using lighting and color in clever and engaging ways.
The soul of “Wake Up Dead Man” is the ontological tension between Blanc and Jud, between the non-believer and the devout person of faith. This is distilled in one sequence that involves a phone call with a woman in need (Bridget Everett) where playing “Scooby-Doo” is placed into perspective against Jud’s genuine calling to serve his god as he sees it. This sequence could be didactic or heavy-handed or even slow everything down to a crawl, but instead it’s the movie taking a second to breathe and to reestablish focus for one of its main characters. It’s a beautiful moment that lands with emotional intensity without belaboring any point.
“Wake Up Dead Man” has so much going for it – on the surface and beneath – but its greatest strength is the character work and performances. Craig is tremendous stepping back in as Blanc and has some excellent monologues and dialogues with the other cast. His verbal flourishes (thanks also to the script by Johnson) are fun and inspired, often yielding unexpected moments that still feel in character. O’Connor continues to be a revelation on screen in all his roles. Father Jud is a rich character full of combative passions and conflicting motives, and he feels incredibly human as he seeks out the best way to stay true to himself and his calling. Brolin is a great tyrant (clearly a stand-in for another would be dictator who is fueled by the cult of personality) whose murder you root for given the ways he needles and tortures everyone around him. The other actors aren’t given as much to do, truthfully, but they all deliver and create memorable folks with a true sense of character that’s easy to follow without feeling purely surface level.
I was raised in the church and devout for many years (even considering becoming a pastor) before I eventually parted ways with the faith. Even though I’m now an agnostic and don’t attend church, there’s still a large portion of my personality that is built upon that bedrock and big part of me that knows that religion can be a true source of comfort and wonder for people. That tension between the two positions is at the heart of “Wake Up Dead Man” and it’s a better film for it. Johnson has crafted a tremendous movie, managing to delight and entertain while saying something as well. The mystery isn’t the hardest to guess, but it’s the characters and interactions between them that really powers the quickly moving proceedings. These Benoit Blanc whodunnits are great commentaries on our society (and snapshots of a specific zeitgeist as well) that never feel like heavy-handed sermons but instead rousing discussions between various viewpoints. If future installments contain such style and sincerity as “Wake Up Dead Man,” then I can’t wait for more of these adventures with everyone’s favorite Southern fried detective.
4 / 5 Stars
Directed by: Rian Johnson
Starring: Daniel Craig, Josh O’Connor, Josh Brolin, Glenn Close, Thomas Haden Church, Andrew Scott, Kerry Washington, Jeremy Renner, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, Mila Kunis, Jeffrey Wright, Noah Segan
