"Though by no means a filmmaker with one interest, Rian Johnson has always had faith on his mind. The director of the films " Brick," " The Brothers Bloom," " Looper," " Star Wars: The Last Jedi," " Knives Out," and " Glass Onion," he's long been interested in turning various genres inside out to get at deeper ideas about the people at their core. With " Wake Up Dead Man " (now playing in limited theaters, on Netflix December 12), the third and best film in the Knives Out series, he reflects on religion by taking on not just death but what it means to a person of faith in 2025."
"While "Wake Up Dead Man" boasts a strong ensemble cast, Jud's salvation, as well as the answers to the mystery, may come from those like Bridget Everett's Louise who come into the film and complicate the experience in an unexpected, yet deeply moving, fashion. Increasingly, the film becomes about the moments where we take a step back from the sharply well-written murder mystery itself to look at the bigger picture of it all."
"There remain plenty of clever twists and hilarious jokes that Johnson crafts, though it's also about excavating what the film calls a "road to Damascus" revelation or the reason you're here in a world that's falling into darkness."
Rian Johnson applies genre-bending techniques to explore faith and spiritual crisis in Wake Up Dead Man, the third Knives Out installment. The story follows Father Jud, a compassionate young priest with a painful past, who is reassigned after a public altercation and placed under the authoritarian Monsignor Jefferson Wicks. When deaths occur within the parish and Jud becomes the prime suspect, Detective Benoit Blanc investigates to clear his name. Characters such as Bridget Everett's Louise introduce unexpected emotional complexity and potential salvation. The film balances clever mystery twists and humor with a deeper examination of revelation, purpose, and redemption in a darkening world.
Read at Roger Ebert
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