by Tim Gordon
Rian Johnson’s third Benoit Blanc mystery, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, trades the glam tech world of Glass Onion for incense, liturgy, and parish politics, and it fits like a glove. Wake Up Dead Man is a darker, more contemplative whodunnit than its predecessor, set against the backdrop of a small Catholic community fractured by faith, power, and suspicion. Anchored by Daniel Craig’s endlessly watchable Benoit Blanc, the film proves that this franchise still has plenty of sharp knives left in the drawer.
The story begins with Rev. Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor), a young priest assigned to a parish led by Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), a firebrand cleric with an unorthodox, theatrical style. Their clashes provide the film’s heartbeat. Wicks is a charismatic pragmatist, using spectacle and political savvy to fill the pews and bankroll parish projects. Duplenticy, in contrast, is an earnest purist, wary of spectacle and devoted to humility, confession, and serving the poor.
Their philosophical sparring escalates into something like a theological duel: Wicks views power as a necessary vessel for grace, while Duplenticy sees compromise as corruption. The two men want the same outcome: souls saved, community built—but their methods and values are oil and water. Johnson frames them as spiritual counterparts, almost like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, both seeking transformation through radically different approaches.
When Wicks is mysteriously murdered during the Good Friday service, suspicion immediately falls on Duplenticy. Into this crucible walks Benoit Blanc, summoned once again to untangle a nest of motives, lies, and hidden sins.
Johnson’s signature “howdunnit” sensibility is alive and well. Instead of luxury yachts or glass mansions, the mystery unfolds through the textures of parish life: sacristy keys, processional crosses, the length of a thurible chain, even hymn numbers. The structure mirrors the Stations of the Cross, giving the investigation a ritual rhythm that feels both clever and thematically rich.
Blanc, as always, is less a grandstanding genius and more an astute listener, his Southern drawl cutting through evasions like incense through a nave. Craig continues to make the detective both genial and sly, a figure who can puncture pieties without sneering at faith itself.
The supporting cast is stacked with heavyweights. Glenn Close plays Martha Delacroix, a seemingly sweet church matron whose polite smiles conceal decades of gatekeeping. Kerry Washington delivers quiet fire as Vera Draven, a lawyer entangled in the parish’s legal woes. Jeremy Renner brings grit as a local doctor, while Cailee Spaeny’s concert cellist and Thomas Haden Church’s enigmatic groundskeeper each add layered intrigue. Mila Kunis, as the local police chief, provides a secular counterpoint to the parish’s endless politicking.
Everyone gets a moment, but the real electricity lies in O’Connor and Brolin’s sparring, their ideological battle carrying as much weight as the murder itself.
If Glass Onion satirized the stupidity of unchecked wealth, Wake Up Dead Man interrogates the cost of charisma and the fragility of institutions built on it. The film asks: when does pastoral leadership become control? When does conscience curdle into vanity? And how do communities fracture when the very figures meant to guide them become objects of fear or suspicion?
Johnson keeps sympathy for belief itself but skewers the ways it can be manipulated for influence or ego. The script occasionally bogs down in sermon snippets and council meetings, slowing the pace, but even these detours underscore the stakes of the parish’s inner war.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery doesn’t reinvent the series, but it reinvigorates it by rooting the puzzle in a morally charged community setting. It’s a story of ritual and suspicion, power and conscience, brought to life by a stellar ensemble and Johnson’s playful craftsmanship.
The mystery clicks, the characters crackle, and Benoit Blanc remains a detective worth following anywhere, even into the pews. This one doesn’t shout; it rings, like a church bell you feel in your ribs after the sound has faded.
Grade: B
