I was really worried that Wake Up Dead Man would be like Glass Onion (which, spoiler alert, I DID NOT like). With a star-studded cast in both movies, you’d think that they were both set up for success. But following up from Knives Out? Yeah, that’s tough because that movie was AMAZING. Glass Onion obviously didn’t deliver. Wake Up Dead Man? It came way closer to the original magic of Knives Out. So, with that being said, I really did enjoy this mystery. There were a few things that made me go, hmmmm? But other than a few doubts, this was pretty good. 

I’ll start with our cast and characters. Monsignor Wicks? A total douche. It took me forever to realize that Josh Brolin was also Bran in The Goonies (1985) (and if you haven’t seen that movie? Run right now to watch it because I’m about to do a whole rewatch just because of the actor 😂 – the nostalgia is real). Josh Brolin did an amazing job just being… horrible in this movie. I’m pretty religious myself, so seeing him being a priest and acting like that? Phew, I was feeling a little angry haha. Father Jud Duplenticy? I was skeptical right from the beginning just because the writers decided to give him a name similar to duplicity (which means deceitful or deceptive). Well, played Rian Johnson, because my whole perspective of the movie was changed because of that. The actor, though, Josh O’Connor, did a wonderful job and I still can’t figure out what I’ve seen him in before.

I’m not gonna go over each character because, while a lot of them are VERY high profile, they didn’t really contribute a ton to the movie and could’ve been played by anyone. The ones I do want to mention, though, are Martha (Glenn Close), who honesty gave me the heebie jeebies right from the beginning. I mean something was just not right with that woman. Glenn Close did a wonderful job because her character was just dang creepy. The other one I want to mention, while not really that important, was Mila Kunis’ character Chief Geraldine Scott. Literally, I was so surprised when Mila Kunis popped up. That’s all I really wanted to say about her 😂.

The overall mystery was really well done. The whole town is built on this folklore (basically, even though it’s a true story) about the harlot whore (Annie Hamilton) who just happens to be Monsignor Wicks’ mother. The story goes that she had Monsignor Wicks’ out of wedlock and was literally just shunned by the town for her indiscretion. Not only that, but her father was also a priest and was supposed to have a huge fortune that she would inherit. When he left her nothing, she destroyed the church and died running into his crypt. You read that right, this lady was completely isolated because everyone only saw her sin and greed (real religion should not be like this, by the way). Anywayyy, then Monsignor Wicks gets murdered and everything follows this small town story and ties into his death. I really liked it and loved our main characters (Fr. Jud and Benoit Blanc). 

Spoilers ahead.

So, y’all know I have to say some spoilers. Obviously don’t read any further if you don’t want the movie to be ruined for you. But, I really liked the theme of redemption (the good part, not Monsignor Wicks’ idea obviously). The fact that Benoit Blanc didn’t want to tell everyone the truth, but rather, have the culprit come forward of their own accord? That was so amazing. The mercy that he felt and gave was pretty cool especially since a lot of this movie was showing the bad side of religion. And Fr. Jud? Yep, not deceitful at all. Just a good dude and priest (WELL PLAYED Rian Johnson because I seriously thought he was gonna be the bad guy even though he ended up being my favorite type of character – the forgiving and gentle kind). Anyway, Martha helped kill Monsignor Wicks’ along with Dr. Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner) because Wicks’ only wanted Eve’s Apple (which was a huge diamond worth a ton of money). Martha cast her judgement on Monsignor Wicks’, his mother, and everyone, but in the end, right before she died, she let it all go. The hate, the anger, the judgement. It was all gone because, y’all, we can’t survive as human beings when we hold onto those types of emotions. So, Fr. Jud gets to run the church with forgiveness, openness, and a welcoming spirit (hiding the diamond with Jesus), which is exactly what everyone needs. Sorry, my soapbox is done 🙂.

Overall, seriously, this one had so much more heart than Glass Onion, which is what made Knives Out so great in the first place. I loved to see them return back to what made the first movie so good, which is… drumroll… a focus on our humanity and the things that can make our humanity diminish (i.e. greed, selfishness, hate). The mystery? So good. The characters? Top notch. The only thing I would have changed was a little of the cast. I get you want to attract attention for the movie itself with everyone’s favorite actors and actresses, but Wake Up Dead Man did not need all of these famous stars to be good. It just needed the beautiful writing and storytelling that we seriously need more of. 

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