Josh O'Connor

Benoit Blanc investigates a murder in a small town church in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. Rev. Jud Duplenticy (Josh O'Connor) is a young priest attempting to atone for his past sins as a boxer. Jud is sent to assist at the Our Lord of Perpetual Fortitude church run by Msgr. Jefferson Micks (Josh Brolin). Wicks is an abrassive and controversial priest, with cult-like congregation that includes right-hand devotee Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close) and her husband and groundskeeper Samson Holt (Thomas Haden Church), Dr. Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), lawyer Vera Draven (Kerry Washington) and her right-wing influencer son Cy (Daryl McCormack), science fiction writer Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), and wheelchair-bound former cellist Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny). A seemingly impossible murder occurs in the middle of Good Friday service, and the fingers begin pointing towards Jud. The police chief, Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis), brings in famous detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) to consult on the case. Sensing Jud to be innocent of the crime, Blanc tries to decipher which member of the congregation would want to commit this murder. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery Synopsis Wake Up Dead Man is the third of the Benoit Blanc mysteries starring Daniel Craig and written and directed by Rian Johnson, following 2019's Knives Out, the title of which is still used in the subtitles for marketing purposes, and 2022's Glass Onion. This time around, Benoit Blanc is investigating a murder that occurred in the middle of Good Friday service at a small town church. Blanc is joined in his investigation by Rev. Jud Duplenticy, played by Josh O'Connor (Challengers), a new priest at the parish and also the prime suspect. The first half of Wake Up Dead Man consists of a letter written by Jud detailing the events leading up to the murder. Jud had been sent to assist Msgr. Jefferson Wicks, played by Josh Brolin, whose volatile sermons have scared away all but the most devout members of his congregation. Which member of this congregation had the possible motive to commit murder? My Thoughts on Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery While each has deviations in plot and setting, Rian Johnson's Benoit Blanc mysteries now have a clear formula to them. Specifically, while Daniel Craig's Blanc is the only returning character, he always receives assistance from one of the new faces in the ensemble. In the case of Wake Up Dead Man, it's a standout performance by Josh O'Connor as Rev. Jud Duplenticy, who is in the middle of a crisis of faith and will not get any help in that regard from the strictly atheist Blanc. While still featuring quite a bit of humour, Wake Up Dead Man is a much darker murder mystery than the previous two Benoit Blanc adventures. Part of this comes from how Jefferson Wicks' religious zealotry feeds into the right-wing extremeism of Daryl McCormack's Cy Draven, an influencer who films all of Wicks' sermons and posts them on YouTube. This contrasts with Jud Duplenticy's idealistic belief that religion can be healing. While I have been enjoying the murder mystery phase of Rian Johnson’s career, I also feel that the Benoit Blanc mysteries have started to run their course. Wake Up Dead Man is enjoyable and all, but I think that after completing the trilogy, it is time for Johnson to move on to other things. However, if Rian Johnson and Daniel Craig choose to continue making these films indefinitely, I am also fine with that.