Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, written and directed by Rian Johnson, raises the bar on mystery thrillers that Johnson himself has previously set. Proving yet again his brilliance in crafting a whodunit mystery, his latest film dares to elevate the power of storytelling to heavenly heights.
Set in the fictional small town of Chimney Rock, the story follows Father Jud, played by Josh O’Connor, who has been sent to a small parish to do penance for acting out at his previous posting. This isolated parish is led by the charismatic yet alarmist Monsignor Wicks, played by Josh Brolin, who leads a tight-knit flock with a growing paranoia lest they heed the Monsignor’s good word. Among this impressive ensemble, Glenn Close delivers an outstanding performance as Martha, the devoted churchgoer who has been attending since her childhood and who knows all the secrets of the parish. Father Jud and Monsignor Wicks have opposing ideas of how the parish should be run, leading Wicks to encourage suspicion of Jud among the regular churchgoers. The strained dynamic between the priests reflects the greater themes of the film, such as the dichotomy of good and evil and the power of belief. With tensions rising, everything comes to a head on Good Friday when a grisly murder is discovered during the service. Enter Benoit Blanc, the dashing detective ready to closely examine every piece of the impossible murder.
Darkness and light are not just metaphorical in this film but are used as visible signs of a character’s morality. The purity or wickedness of every character is up for debate, as they all have plausible motives for being the potential murderer. Just as the mystery has been crafted for the audience, characters in this film are not to be trusted, as they could be constructing stories of their own. Catholic religious imagery abounds in this film, borrowing some of the oldest tricks from one of
the oldest books. Speaking of books, this film directly references a whodunit novel, The Hollow Man by John Dickinson Carr, which also features a locked door mystery killing. The craft of storytelling is present here too, as Detective Blanc uses the novel’s theories to decipher how the murder could have been carried out.
In addition to how he delivers the twists and satisfying ending of a well-crafted mystery, Johnson is a standout screenwriter because of the way he manages to capture the zeitgeist. His 2019 film, Knives Out, raised a mirror to a society contending with the issues of extreme immigration policy and class difference. In this film, religious extremism and its power to draw people into a movement is represented with Monsignor Wicks. Cy Draven, a failed politician turned streamer, played by Daryl McCormack, represents an unnerving emerging figure in popular culture, who
also conveniently delivers exposition through his phone recordings. The antidote to these characters manifests through Father Jud, who fights for compassion and understanding even amidst his crisis of faith. In the end, it is Father Jud’s mercy that anchors the audience through the reveals of this mystery that must be seen to be believed.
Written for KSQD’s Film Gang by Isa Cortez.
