Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025)

User Review

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  Barneyonmovies

  8 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: Rian Johnson always uses his 'Knives Out,' mysteries to subvert expectations and explore some deeper themes. The first was about a wealthy family against a poor immigrant woman, 'Glass Onion,' was a satire of the super-rich elite, and his latest one is all about faith.
  
  Of course, centering the story around a tight-knit village congregation (including a doctor, lawyer, political activist and science fiction writer) allows it to tick various Agatha Christie clichés right out the gate. But what makes it interesting is that when radical Priest Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) is found dead, it becomes a battle between his easy and appealing ideology of fighting a world in which everyone is against you, versus his assistant Jud (Josh O'Connor)'s teaching of compassion and understanding.
  
  Wicks' followers have become desperately paranoid, and initially we see them suspect Jud for murder simply because he's the outsider. But eventually we learn that (as often happens in alt-right spheres) Wicks decided to betray his own followers in favour of power and fortune, so Sister Martha (Glenn Close) planned his murder with Doctor Nat (Jeremy Renner). Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig)'s unspinning of this web is as appealing as ever, but it also packs an extra punch because the congregation learns some compassion and understanding, and because even Blanc - a man whose only faith is in the truth - is affected by Jud's teachings and treats Sister Martha with mercy in his final reveal.
  
  Alongside a great mystery, that makes for a lovely story about what faith and religion should be for.
  
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Some of the dialogue is a little over-egged and expositional.
  
  VERDICT: 'Wake Up Dead Man,' is another knockout Rian Johnson mystery that digs deeper than you might expect.

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