The Knives Out series strikes again with Wake Up Dead Man, a mystery with so many twists and turns that it will keep you wondering what happened and who did what—until the final minutes of the film. Like its Knives Out predecessors, Wake Up Dead Man captures all your favorite mystery tropes with a dramatic flair and contemplative narration, leaving you thoroughly immersed in the narrative.
The movie stars Father Judd, played by Josh O’Connor, a former boxer-turned-priest who kicks off the film by punching and breaking the jaw of another member of the clergy who was saying things Father Judd didn’t agree with. A humorous beginning that gives us a little insight into Father Judd’s character. To pay for his actions, Father Judd is sent to a small parish to be a pastor alongside Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, played by Josh Brolin.
Monsignor Wick seems to represent everything that Father Judd is against, using his cult-like power over the church to passionately deliver messages of exclusion and hate. The movie sets up Father Judd as the protagonist against Monsignor Wick’s evil. Things escalate, and as a result, attending members start to dwindle drastically until only a small loyal following remains, the future suspects. During this time, we are also given some background into Monsignor Wick and the church secretary Martha Delacroix as to their relationship with the church, which becomes very relevant later on in the film.
The murder part of the mystery happens after an especially draining sermon Monsignor Wicks gives, causing him to retire to a small open storage closet. From there, Father Judd takes over the service, only to be interrupted within a matter of minutes by the collapse and death of Wicks.
The remainder of the movie follows Knives Out’s recurring investigator Benoit Blanc, played by Daniel Craig, as he deciphers how the seemingly impossible murder took place and navigates the constantly evolving events in the aftermath. One of the most successful parts of this film was the audience’s own ability to participate in the interpretation of evidence, visual, auditory clues alongside Blanc. Many of the essential clues for discovering how Monsignor Wick was murdered were actually clearly displayed during the film, but they fell just enough under the radar that they completely passed by the audience. Another aspect of this film was that there were many mysteries to solve. The sheer amount was arguably too overwhelming to process at once, but to an extent, it kept the audience involved in the story and added interesting dimensions to plot.
While the film may have tried to handle too many mysteries in one movie, the overall plot demonstrates a whodunit movie at its best: complicated, interactive and wildly entertaining. The actors did a phenomenal job at portraying their characters, most notably the leads Daniel Craig, Josh O’Connor, Josh Brolin. The script additionally was very well-written, leaving out just enough information to keep enticing the audience.
