Wake Up Dead Man

Last weekend, Wake Up Dead Man, the newest Knives Out mystery and film by Rian Johnson, was released on Netflix. Wake Up Dead Man sees detective Benoit Blanc team up with a Catholic priest to solve the murder of a controversial priest at a small town church. I have enjoyed the other two Knives Out films and had confidence that this film would be just as good.

As expected, I found Wake Up Dead Man to be just as good as the previous Knives Out films. I liked that this film had a bit more of a thriller aspect to it, teasing some supernatural elements. I didn't find this movie to be scary, but Sarah says that it was scarier than the other films in the series. This movie takes on the brave move of exploring ideas from both religion and politics. All of the different characters that are introduced have their own views on religion, with the members of the church viewing and using the church in unique ways. The dynamic between Benoit Blanc and Father Jud Duplenticy was very interesting, as you have this back and forth between an admitted agnostic and a Catholic priest. Both of them have very different views about faith and religion, but still work together while engaging in healthy debate. The movie also does a great job of taking on ideas of corruption in religion, where people and church leaders use the front of the church to take advantage of people and push their own extreme agendas, with Josh Brolin's character being the embodiment of this. Of course, Daniel Craig is always great as Benoit Blanc, but I liked how all of the other characters added their own unique views of religion to the story. Wake Up Dead Man also does a great job of timing the reveals of information. Every major reveal adds to the story while also sparking several other questions that keep the audience engaged until the very end.

The only real negative I have is that the movie does take a bit to get going. The actual murder doesn't take place until about 40 minutes into the movie, with Benoit Blanc not even appearing until 45 minutes into the story. This is quite the contrast from the other films, where either the murder or Daniel Craig being present right from the start. However, when the movie is almost 2.5 hours long, you can afford to take time to establish things.

Overall, Wake Up Dead Man is another great whodunit murder mystery with compelling themes and interesting characters. While it could have moved a little faster in the first part of the film, it still made for a solid addition to the Knives Out franchise.

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A- Recommendation: Check it out