Title: Wake Up Dead Man
Release Date: November 26, 2025
Director: Rian Johnson
Production Company:
Main Cast:

• Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc
• Josh O’Connor as Jud Duplenticy
• Glenn Close as Martha Delacroix
• Josh Brolin as Jefferson Wicks
• Mila Kunis as Geraldine Scott
• Jeremy Renner as Nat Sharp
• Kerry Washington as Vera Draven
• Andrew Scott as Lee Ross
• Cailee Spaeny as Simone Vivane
• Daryl McCormack as Cy Draven
• Thomas Haden Church as Samson Holt
• Jeffrey Wright as Langstrom
• Annie Hamilton as Grace Wicks
• James Faulkner as Prentice Wicks
• Bridget Everett as Louise
• Noah Segan as Nikolai
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a baseball announcer

Synopsis (via Letterboxd):

When young priest Jud Duplenticy is sent to assist charismatic firebrand Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, it’s clear that all is not well in the pews. After a sudden and seemingly impossible murder rocks the town, the lack of an obvious suspect prompts local police chief Geraldine Scott to join forces with renowned detective Benoit Blanc to unravel a mystery that defies all logic.

My Thoughts:

You’re right. It’s storytelling. The rites and the rituals. Costumes, all of it. It’s storytelling. I guess the question is, do these stories convince us of a lie? Or do they resonate with something deep inside us that’s profoundly true, that we can’t express any other way except storytelling?

The third in the series of Benoit Blanc mysteries is a vast improvement on the second installment in the series and stylistically different from both of its predecessors.  Father Jud, a young and idealistic priest with a troubled past is sent to a small town parish in upstate New York.  There he is supposed to assist the eccentric Monsignor Wicks who has become a demagogue determined to condemn a sinful world.  His dwindling congregation includes a small circle of locals who have formed a cult of personality around Wicks.

When Wicks is murdered in a classic closed room mystery during the Good Friday service, Jud becomes the primary suspect.  But Benoit Blanc arrives and is convinced of Jud’s innocence and the investigate the crime together, uncovering darker truths of the congregation and its parishioners.  Like all the “Knives Out” movies the heart of the story is social commentary.  Wicks and his followers are a not at all subtle representation of right wing hucksters like Donald Trump and the conspiracy theorists who are drawn to follow him.  The movie also has a lot to say about religion with the push and pull between the faithful Jud and the atheistic Blanc.  Ultimately, the movie reveals the positive aspects of faith, religion, and ministry, most strongly in a heartwarming scene where consoles a construction worker who has had a falling out with her elderly mother.

One of the big changes from the preceding films is that Josh O’Connor is clearly the heart of this film rather than Daniel Craig.  In fact, Benoit Blanc doesn’t even appear in the movie until 45 minutes in.  He’s a strong actor who does a good job of presenting Jud’s anxieties and idealism.  The all-star cast includes great performances by Glenn Close (as the woman who really runs the parish, true of all churches), Mila Kunis, Andrew Scott, and Thomas Haden Church among others.

I have some thoughts about how this film depicts Catholicism but they include spoilers so I’m going to post them below the trailer.

Rating: ****

Okay so although the story is set in a Catholic Church, it really feels like it’s a story inspired by a more evangelical Protestant church but uses Catholicism for the aesthetics (Rian Johnson has pretty much admitted).  Now this did not in any way ruin my enjoyment of the film which like many movies takes liberties to get to it’s thematic points and dramatic beats.  But here’s how it doesn’t fit Catholicism.

First of all we have Jefferson Wicks basically inheriting the parish from his grandfather.  The explanation that Prentice Wicks was a widowed father who then became a priest is accurate, but I can’t believe that either of the Wicks would control the parish for their entire careers, much less both of them.  In a hierarchical church, diocesan priests are moved around frequently throughout their careers, partly to prevent them from forming their own personal fiefdoms.  It’s much more likely that an evangelical church would remain under the leadership of a single family.

Second, after the murder occurs, it’s implausible that the bishop wouldn’t send a team from the diocese – including the Church’s lawyers – to participate in the investigation.  Dramatically this would’ve just cluttered the movie, but I don’t think a real priest who is also considered the primary suspect would basically be left on his own.

Finally, Cailee Spaeny’s character donates lots of money to Wicks in hopes of getting a miracle cure to her chronic pain.  While “faith healing” is not completely unknown in the Catholic Church, it’s definitely more of an evangelical.

Anyhow, just wanted to get that off my chest as someone who grew up Catholic.