I saw this movie on the opening night of the Philadelphia Film Festival, which explains why I saw it before it will be released to Netflix in November.
“Wake Up Dead Man” is pretty typical of Rian Johnson’s two previous Knives Out films. First, it has a pretty amazing cast. Second, it does make fun of MAGA people. And, third, it’s terrific is pretty much every way.
The setting for this one is most unusual…a small, dying Catholic church. But once Father Jud Duplenticy arrives at this new post, he’s shocked to see that the Monsignor is evil and has created a small, nasty clique or cult within his dying congregation. The common thing that binds these people is a general hatred for mankind…making it not exactly the nicest church you could attend. As a result, the well meaning and decent Father is stumped as to what to do…and it’s made worse when the Monsignor physically assaults him and encourages his cult to hate the Father! So, it’s not at all surprising when the Monsignor is found murdered during a church service…and it appears is if the killing was impossible. This is where Benoit Blanc enters the story and, frankly, he’s really stumped!
The writing and acting are just about perfect. Some might dislike the film because they might see it as an attack on religion, though I think this isn’t necessarily fair. The Father IS a good man…the sort Rian Johnson seemed to indicate he wishes he had growing up in an evangelical household (we heard about this during the Q&A following the film). All in all, a most enjoyable film….one I nearly scored a 10.
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