Wake Up Dead Man is the third film in the Knives Out Franchise, and certainly fulfils the criteria of a miraculous crime needing to be solved. Set around a small town church, the latest Knives Out thriller has a more traditional murder mystery setting, surrounded by brooding woods, it has a tastefully sinister edge.
However, it is not the murder mystery aspect of this film that I think is the most interesting – although personally I think this can be considered a big upgrade from the extravagant Glass Onion. The film’s representation of the Church and Jesus’ teachings are, in my opinion, the underlying focuses of the film. It shows how the Church should “sustain you, everyday”, and it is not a tool of politics – a representation which is far too present in the modern day, in the martyrdom of Charlie Kirk for example.
Personally, I see the biggest thrill of this movie, in keeping with its genre, to be created by the suspense of Benoit Blanc’s never ending monologues – which can feel a bit tiring in the 2 hour long film. Offering a refreshing representation and examples of how Jesus’ teachings are there for comfort, growth and connections, Jud Duplenticy’s conflicts with Jefferson Wicks resembles the potential struggles with Christian teachings – and how it should be about Jesus, not the priests themselves.
However, one thing that certainly helps gather an audience for this is film, is the presence of another ‘hot priest’. Made popular after Andrew Scott’s performance in Fleabag, the hot priest trope helps popularise the film – Josh O’Connor has definitely had a big welcome on TikTok edit pages. One could argue that this contradicts my earlier mention of Christian representation, however in the modern era of media, there is always and underlying story that gets people to go back again and again to watch a film.
