Wake Up Dead Man

Wake up, critic!

You’ve been sitting on this movie for weeks! I understand you weren’t going to watch it in theatres last month, but that grace period ended once it got on Netflix. Where’s the review for Wake Up Dead Man …

Vance! I already have it.

Good, let’s go …

Wake Up Dead Man (A Knives Out Mystery)

This time, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is already on his latest case. His latest dead man is Msgr. Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), a firebrand preacher with a small, yet devoted flock. They all think that the new assistant pastor, Rev. Jud Dupenticy (Josh O'Connor), stabbed Wicks in the middle of his Good Friday speech. But Blanc would like to check out the other suspects first.

Amongst the flock, we have washed up author Lee Ross (Andrew Scott); alcoholic Dr. Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner); career lawyer Vera Draven (Kerry Washington); Vera's adopted son and influencer Cy (Daryl McCormack); disabled cellist Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny); and Wicks's secretary Martha (Glen Close) and her groundskeeper husband, Samson (Thomas Haden Church). They all have plausible motives, but only one actually acted on theirs. Blanc and Jud get on the case, though Blanc might not like the answer ...

One may notice that Blanc isn't in much of the first act. He's in the first few seconds, about to read Jud's account of the case, then finally shows up around forty-minutes in. It takes another twenty minutes before we get back to the start. That's right, he's not being summoned for the case; he was already there. On my first watch, I was perplexed by what I thought was such a late start to the plot. Jud tells us about the suspects, rather than let us learn with Blanc during his investigation, which felt a bit front-loaded. As I write this now, I realize that we're supposed to follow Jud, not Blanc, as the central character. Its plotting makes much more sense once you do that.

It also helps that Rian Johnson presents us with some captivating ideas. Yes, there's the effective locked-room mystery, but I'm especially impressed with the flock's hidden depths. While they first appear tightly knit, we come to understand them as an unhappy lot trapped in their lives. They come to realize that Wicks doesn't deserve their time, faith and money, yet they don't know anything else. This humanizes the flock, even the otherwise unrepentantly unpleasant Cy. Their Bad Shepherd, Wicks, also has a few humanizing qualities, even if he tells us way more than we want to. Give him time, and his worse qualities become too numerous to ignore.

Yes, Blanc is still a great detective, but it's impressive how he's challenged in the sequels. In Knives Out, he's very straightforward, despite his delightful eccentricities. In the last movie, he's flummoxed by the idea how the simplest solution could be the solution. Here, in his summation, he's all ready to solve the case, but he realizes it's best to let the mastermind confess. A confession is good for the soul, after all. I already wonder where a next movie can take him after that powerful and well-acted epiphany. 

Who else do we have here? Obviously, we've got Jud, who clocks a justifiably unpopular deacon in his first scene. Jud, a former boxer, spends the film learning to open his fists, so to speak. He and Blanc have great chemistry together once he becomes the latter's Watson. Blanc's epiphany is matched by Jud praying with Louise (Bridget Everett), a motormouth receptionist dealing with her mother's inevitable death. That scene, alone, makes Bridget the film's best supporting character outside of the flock. Mila Kunis and Jeffrey Wright are fine as Chief Scott and Bishop Langstrom, respectively. Chief Scott is ready to arrest Jud, while Langstrom is willing to give him a shot. Finally, we have Annie Hamilton, who plays Wicks's long dead mother, Grace, whose "fallen" ways loom over her son's church.

For this outing, Johnson and his usual crew lean heavily into a gothic horror aesthetic. The church, Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude, is a lot humbler, yet no less striking, than the last film's Glass Onion. It's not completely humble, given its unique bully pulpit, but it's close enough. When Grace vandalizes the Church, for reasons we'll fully understand later, Johnson and cinematographer Steve Yedlin steers the movie into Bram Stoker's Dracula territory - a reference Johnson admits. A few more striking scenes include the reveal of a second victim and Wicks's seeming resurrection (hence the title). A few Andrew Lloyd Webber needle drops give us some funny jump scares, while Nathan Johnson's overall score is suited for the spookiness. 

As with its predecessors, Wake Up Dead Man appeals to those who love good mysteries with a side of humor. Its brand of gothic thrills and chills might just make it a new Halloween classic. Prepare to lose a slow afternoon to its many twists and turns. You won't forget the summation, that's for sure. It's ready when you are, so how about it? Do you want to wake up the dead man?

If not, I'm sure I can recommend something else ...