Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Directed by Rian Johnson
Netflix
Wake Up Dead Man is the third installment in the series of murder mysteries that includes Knives Out in 2019 and Glass Onion in 2022, all of which feature the private detective Benoit Blanc, played by Daniel Craig. Ostensibly a whodunnit in the style of Agatha Christie, Wake Up Dead Man also casts a critical eye on the religious world.
At the outset we meet the rookie priest Fr. Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor), a former boxer who is exiled to a remote church in upstate New York, after having punched a deacon. A convoluted story unfolds, centering on a family scandal involving Catholic priests behaving badly.
At the church of Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude, Fr. Jud has the job of assisting Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, an unhinged cleric played with scenery-chewing relish by Josh Brolin. It is here that we encounter the first issue with the movie. The character of the Monsignor is so completely unbelievable that he is not so much a caricature as a cartoon residing in the fevered mind of lapsed evangelical writer and director Rian Johnson.
Things get worse when the Monsignor makes his confession to Fr. Jud in a scene that is both offensive and extremely unrealistic. There is also a flashback involving scenes of church desecration that will be distressing to anyone of a Catholic faith.
In real life the director was raised in an evangelical church, but is now an atheist. In the movie he takes a hammer, both literally and figuratively, to Jesus and the church. That the movie draws much of its humor from mocking Christian images and sacraments is perhaps symptomatic of a society that no longer respects the sacred and numinous. There is even a parody of the resurrection.
And yet, and yet … miraculously, like light breaking through the clouds, the movie also offers a wonderful example of Christian piety and charity. This comes via the character of Fr. Jud, whose prayerful and forbearing presence keeps everything from going off the rails. At times it seemed as though Josh O’Connor, who was raised a Catholic in real life, was acting in another movie.
His sympathetic portrayal highlights the schizophrenic tone of the movie, which is mocking one minute and respectful in the next.
Part of the problem is the dialogue, much of which is surprisingly juvenile. Non-religious characters speak in religious language: the first word uttered by chief of police Geraldine Scott (a miscast Mila Kunis) is “Christ!” “Praise be!” says another.
The star-studded cast does its best, with Glenn Close in particular transcending the gothic silliness of it all with her convincing portrayal of the tragic church secretary Martha Delacroix. While he does not solve the mystery in the end, Daniel Craig’s charming Southern gentleman (not sure about that accent, though) develops a friendship with Fr. Jud, who acts as the religious foil to Blanc’s atheism.
At two hours and 24 minutes, Wake Up Dead Man is a long movie that could have been shorter, for example by eliminating the spiteful ridiculing of conservatives, who would hardly recognize themselves in the director’s fanciful telling. However, Christians can take inspiration from O’Connor’s performance in this decidedly mixed up and overwrought movie. Against the grand themes of greed, power, and religion, it is the depiction of those small acts of Christian charity that redeem it for the faithful viewer.
The Rev. David Beresford is a retired priest who lives in Wilmington, Delaware. He writes a weekly blog at davidberesford.net.
