Lamar Reviews - Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Airdate 12/5/2025)

Lamar Reviews - Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Airdate 12/5/2025)

If you see this movie because you love Daniel
Craig as Benoit Blanc, you will not be
disappointed. But the big surprise is Josh
O’Connor as Father Jud Duplenticy, a former
boxer turned priest. I was not familiar with him, but
he almost stole the movie. He was fantastic, to the
point that when Daniel Craig is not in a scene, he
is not missed, and that is saying something.
Father Jud, after a violent outburst, as
punishment, is sent from Upstate New York to a
tiny parish in the village of Chimney Rock. He
goes to work for Monsignor Jefferson Wicks,
played by Josh Brolin, a bombastic, angry
pessimist.
It is an understatement to say that Father Jud and
the Monsignor do not see eye to eye on how to
tend to the very small flock. That flock consists of
Glen Close as Martha, who keeps the accounts
and the running of the church. She had worked for
the previous Monsignor Wicks, Jefferson’s father,
and she is a devoted follower of both.

Thomas Haden Church plays the groundskeeper.
Kerry Washington is somewhat wasted as a
lawyer. Dr. Not Sharp, a broken-hearted alcoholic,
is played by Jeremy Renner. Andrew Scott plays
an author whose career is in the dump. And
Cailee Spaeny plays a musician with medical
problems looking for a miracle.
The Monsignor controls his small flock in a cultish
way and is very unwelcoming to any first time
visitors. This is very troubling to Father Jud who
was warned that Monsignor Jefferson is “a few
beads short of a full rosary.”
When one of the characters is murdered, in what
looks like, a “locked room mystery”, everyone is
present, but the evidence points to Father Jud.
Police Chief Geraldine Scott, played by Mila
Kunis, shows up to investigate, and she invites
Benoit Blanc to help.
Blanc agrees that it looks bad for Father Jud, but
he vows to get to the bottom of this mystery with
the Father’s help.

The movie at 2 hours 24 minutes, could be
considered a little long, but for me I was having
such a good time I did not want it to end, Rated
PG-13 for violent content, bloody images, strong
language, some crude sexual material, and
smoking.
Because the setting of this movie is a church there
is a lot of discussion of faith, especially between
Father Jud whose entire life has been changed by
his. Benoit is a man who bases his life on logic
and science. Their discussions on the subject are
very interesting to watch, and we see Blanc’s
surprise and amazement when he realizes just
how important Father Jud’s calling is to him.
This is the third Knives Out Mystery, and they get
better as they go, this being the best so far. What
really surprises me is that I feel like Daniel Craig
had less screentime in this than the other two, and
it was still fantastic. This shows the genius of
Writer and director Rian Johnson, and the faith he
had in Josh O’Connor.
My Score: A Full Six-Pack of frosty Budweisers