Watched: 01/01/2026
Format: Netflix
Viewing: First
Director: Rian Johnson
Look, I am in the bag a bit for these movies at this point. I am not averse to a good murder mystery, and I like a quirky detective. And since jump, I've been onboard with Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc.
I had planned to go see this upon its theatrical release, but a confluence of events prevented this. For good or ill, it's a Netflix movie, and after two weeks or so, they shuttled the movie over to the streamer and we finally had time to watch it.
Honestly, I hadn't heard much about this one, and Howard gave it his usual 2.5 stars, which told me nothing, Howard. Nothing! And I would be more charitable than Howard, but I am also always kinder or meaner than Howard, who shoots straight down the middle most days.
In general, Wake Up Dead Man fit the bill just fine for a movie for a New Years Day. A solid cast, an engaging mystery I was never going to solve on my own, and Kerry Washington (we will always grant extra points for Kerry Washington).
It also features a Cubs game with two-time Golden Glover second baseman Nico Hoerner in some TV footage (more bonus points earned). More on the footage below.
If I found anything to discuss without getting into spoilers, it's the movie's setting in a world of Faith, as the mystery is solved by the Faithless - an atheistic Benoit Blanc.
We know very little about Blanc, and are given only small details of who he is outside of his work. We know that, like some of the best detectives, he has a core of moral iron which is not immediately apparent (check out Jules Maigret, Marlowe, or Johnson's Charlie Cale...). The core is what drives Blanc and makes him, at the end of the day, very good at his job. That core may not adhere to rules the other characters or members of the audience may understand, but it's there.
Johnson does a phenomenal job of balancing who Blanc is and pairing him with a priest who knows the world - our Father Jud Duplenticy (Josh O'Connor) is not some sheltered fellow. The struggles he sees are earthly. Johnson does not pit Father Jud against Blanc - and the two don't try to convert one another. But we do see the calcification and corruption possible from the pulpit in Josh Brolin's Monsignor Wicks - a character I'll argue Brolin nailed.
When Wicks winds up dead in an impossible scenario, the most likely suspect is Father Jud, who wants to resuscitate the church and help the parishioners he sees Wicks is not helping, and is likely harming. How and why? - you'll need to watch the movie.
Like prior Knives Out films, this one also has a star-studded cast - but with new talent rolling in, I confess I didn't know O'Connor, Cailee Spaeny or Daryl McCormack. But they hold their own in a film with Glenn Close, Thomas Haden Church, Andrew Scott, Jeremy Renner (who reminded me he's really good), and Jeffrey Wright. Casting Mila Kunis as a small-town Sheriff is a curious choice, but I can't say I doubted her for a second and is the sort of just-not-quite-what-you're-expecting-but-it-works stuff I think Johnson has made a hallmark of his work.
Anyway, yeah, I thought the way faith and truth and their uneasy partnership was a fascinating spin. Just as we moved from the wealthy family who stood to gain from a patriarch's death, and the billionaire island murder by any of a dozen dilettantes worked so well. Any group of people can work correctly for a murder mystery if the motive is there.
That here in a third Knives Out Mystery some nerds online are turning on Craig, Johnson and Blanc is perhaps inevitable - Blanc is not just a character, he's a character. And that is enough for the internet to be mad about some imaginary rule they'll believe was broken. No, I don't get it either. All I can say is - I guess if you dislike this sort of thing, stop watching these movies or any movie with a character who is specific?
I'll keep showing up. There are far worse ways to spend my two hours. And how can you get mad at a master detective who is apparently jamming out to the Cats cast recording while driving around?
SPOILER
Fun Cubs fact: Because the Cubs play games on Friday afternoons as a matter-of-course (1:20 PM is first pitch) they were able to peg the game seen as a Good Friday afternoon game. It just so happens, the footage used is from a game I was thinking about just the other day - the Cubs 13-11 win over Arizona that broke all sorts of records. We wrote about it over at our other site.
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