OKLAHOMA CITY – There are a lot of ways to twist the murder mystery genre, and writer/director Rian Johnson seems to be going out of his way to discover them all.
But while his “Knives Out” series has already used the murder mystery as a platform for political satire, shock comedy, and social allegory, the newest installment twists the genre to explore something particularly unexpected: the power of grace and forgiveness in the age of hatred.
“Wake Up Dead Man” is the third entry into Johnson’s murder mystery world established with “Knives Out” and “Glass Onion,” all built around Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, a charismatic and cocky super-detective with a cartoon Southern accent. But this entry largely shifts its tone and its tendencies away from the madcap social comedy and nesting doll structure of its predecessors.
Rather than a riotous social commentary that sometimes veers into morbid curiosity or steely-eyed seriousness, “Wake Up Dead Man” is a darkly hued and deeply soulful mystery that releases its tensions in welcome – but only occasional – bursts of character comedy.
And along the way, it gives us one of the most emotional and bitingly political films of the year, all dressed up in the guilt, love, conflict, compassion, and turmoil of Catholicism and even of faith itself.
We’re given the story primarily through Josh O’Connor’s Father Jud, a lonely-but-loveable young Catholic priest with a hot streak and a regrettably violent past.
Jud is really the lead here, with Blanc not even showing up properly until a solid half-hour or more. By that time, Father Jud has already been stuck assisting the deeply bigoted and worryingly divisive fire-and-brimstone ego of Monsignor Wicks (an endlessly watchable Josh Brolin) in a sleepy New York burb.
Wicks spends his Sundays spewing hate and anger from the pulpit and spends the rest of his days stoking that anger in his closest supporters, consolidating power through fear and false promises, and demanding loyalty from everyone in his orbit.
So when Wicks ends up dead, it’s not really any big surprise.
What is a surprise, however, is just how it’s accomplished: stabbed in the back in a tiny, empty room on stage in full view of his entire congregation.
This is Rian Johnson’s take on the famously literary “impossible crime,” and of course the great Benoit Blanc is the only mind astute enough to unravel its mysteries.
But like all great mysteries, the “how” and the “who” are worthless without the “why,” and here, the “why” is tied inevitably to all of the most contentious and challenging elements of classical Catholicism, Western Christianity, and American conservatism’s sad stranglehold on the church.
Where “Knives Out” took aim at the latent entitlement and self-righteousness of modern upper-class progressivism and “Glass Onion” had loads of fun skewering “tech bro” culture and billionaire worship, “Wake Up Dead Man” goes for the heart by dissecting the ways in which religion has been weaponized through curated fearmongering and bigotry.
And that’s how Rian Johnson employed his broadest and most comical character to develop what is surely his most personal, most spiritual, and most mature film to date.
That’s because Johnson is, himself, a product of that same inner religious turmoil and spiritual conflict, speaking openly about being raised heavily in the church for much of his young life before struggling with and ultimately disconnecting from his faith in the face of that same, cynical societal manipulation.
It feels clear, then, that Father Jud is actually Johnson’s own insert, casting his own lingering wish for the love, compassion, and forgiveness of Christianity alongside the stubborn and confident realism and rationale of Benoit Blanc.
For a story that’s ostensibly about solving an impossible murder, many of the best moments come from Benoit and Jud sparring over what place faith has in the truth and whether justice has a right to grace.
They’re joined in the mystery by a staggering ensemble of some of the best screen players of the moment: Cailee Spaney, Kerry Washington, Thomas Haden Church, the legendary Glenn Close, the towering talent (admittedly underutilized here) of Andrew Scott, and a surprisingly quiet and restrained Jeremy Renner.
But it’s O’Connor and Craig that carry the weight of the questions so beautifully, and Johnson’s direction throughout swirls and snakes around them in thick atmospheres and brilliant lighting shifts to create a tone and a tension unbound from any expectations that the previous films may have laid.
And that’s as good a reason as any to go out and see “Wake Up Dead Man” on the big screen while you still can.
Like “Glass Onion,” this is a Netflix production, and Johnson and Craig had to fight and barter to convince the streaming giant to grant the film the proper theatrical run that it deserves.
With this weekend’s announcement that Netflix will likely be purchasing Warner Bros/Discovery in an historic and massive media merger, the threat is greater than ever that Netflix will effectively close the theatrical window entirely and hammer the biggest nail yet into the coffin of the movie theater industry.
So yes, starting December 12th, you’ll be able to watch “Wake Up Dead Man” in the comfort of your own home, surrounded by social media distractions, dinging phone messages, and the outright momentum-killer that is the pause button.
Instead, why not take this opportunity to support theaters and to see this shocking, fun, contemplative, and gorgeously filmed movie – what is surely one of the best movies of the year – the way that its makers intended?
Otherwise, the next big mystery might be “who killed the film industry?”
“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” is playing now at Flix Brewhouse and Icon Cinemas in OKC and will be available streaming on Netflix on December 12th.
Catch Brett Fieldcamp’s film column weekly for information and insights into the world of film in the Oklahoma City metro and Oklahoma. | Brought to you by the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
Brett Fieldcamp is our Arts and Entertainment Editor. He has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for 15+ years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
