LOS ANGELES, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Wake Up Dead Man, in theaters Wednesday, is a faithful iteration of the Knives Out formula. The third entry in the whodunnit series adds a poignant twist to the comedy and mystery.
Josh O'Connor plays Rev. Jud Duplenticy, a clergyman who is moved to a church in Chimney Rock, N.Y., after assaulting another priest. Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) heads that house of worship, where detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) arrives after Wicks is killed and Jud and the parishioners become suspects.
Since the mystery is set in and around a church, writer/director Rian Johnson has fun with Catholicism, though never mocks the religion. Wicks uses profanity and likes to make people uncomfortable with his proselytizing, but he is still a man of faith.
Jud and Blanc have a compelling dynamic of faith vs. logic. Blanc has a legitimate beef with religion's misogyny, homophobia and justification of violence, but Jud makes a sincere case for the value of stories that resonate with truths, despite their occasional or frequent misuse.
Furthermore, Jud maintains faith amid his own sins of violence. More importantly, the film respects the priest as someone to whom people turn to in times of need. Occasionally, a random character asks Jud to pray for them, and Jud takes a break from the case to attend to religious duty.
