By Joel Williams 09/10/25 at London Film Festival
The Road to Damascus. A religious story that has more in common with this story as we may realise. This might be a whodunnit but the beauty in this film lies in its deeper themes of religion and morality. Are we defined by a singular moment? Or can we find meaning through the viewpoints of others? There’s a connection between film and religion here, what we take from it is wholly personal, we can view the same thing in different ways and that’s what life in general is like too.
Josh O’Connor and Daniel Craig in “Wake Up Dead Man” Photo Credit: Netflix
“Wake Up Dead Man” is the continuation of the cases of Detective Benoit Blanc. This time he’s taken to upstate New York where a mysterious death of a charismatic Monsignor that brings questions upon his devout congregation and a Reverend new to the church.
“Wake Up Dead Man” stars Daniel Craig and Josh O’Connor with a supporting cast consisting of Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Daryl McCormack and Cailee Spaeny.
Morality lives with us every day, at least for most people, and there’s questions we are asked. Here we are given a multitude of them and it lets us sit with some of them and not just give us the answer in full detail leaving you to ponder and think about the way you live your own life. There’s no shying away from the politics that surround churches, a priest who makes sure people call him Monsignor shows you what his character represents. A leader almost cultish in his leading of the church, a notion that sadly can mirror real life events.
Reverend Jud played by Josh O’Connor is our centre point of it all, and acts as the opposing force to Monsignor Wicks played hilariously by Josh Brolin, Jud sees the church as a place for people to have their own takeaways and feel faith can aid them in any way they see fit. Wicks takes a very literal approach that scares away new members through shame. The main chasm between these characters pushes the story forward as our mystery begins to unravel. Josh O’Connor is the standout of this film, a man riddled with guilt and struggling to find his place as a priest and how Jud approaches the role. Fantastic comedic timing paired with a real sensitivity towards the role and character he is playing brings Reverend Jud off the screen naturally. Daniel Craig was always going to be impeccable as he has been previously in the role of Detective Benoit Blanc, there doesn’t feel like any actor that could do it better. Coming out of the screening here at the festival some felt as if Blanc was a little sidelined however I don’t share that opinion, there’s a wonderful development that Blanc goes through in this film. Yes, we get the amazing slick deduction skills throughout, but here he isn’t just the detective, we get to know his character in more depth and the way he sees the world better than previous entries.
Photo Credit: Netflix
There’s a building of the town and the congregation, we learn a lot over the course of the first 45 minutes to flesh out the story and provide us with questions to our characters motivations. What’s great to see is a film like this seems to be something actors want to be in so they all commit and give good performances. We don’t sit with quite enough time with a few of the characters, Cailee Spaeny supremacy I’m on the bandwagon for she needed more screen time, but there is enough there to give us opinions on each of their choices throughout the mystery. Glenn Close may be a standout however as Martha the Church Lady, she portrays Martha with a nuance that tells us she knows far more than she is leading on with all the dirty little secrets that go on in the church known to her.
Visually pretty with cinematography done by Rian Johnson’s regular Steve Yedlin, church sequences that feel grand and holy yet intimate when the time comes. There’s a few shots that use colour lenses around the edges to make it seem as though we are peering through a stained glass window and every time it came on screen it made me want to giggle and kick my feet in the air, there was an appreciation for interesting yet simple shots like that. A beautiful attention to detail with everything purposefully placed or shot, as needed for a whodunnit to help us try to solve the mystery as Blanc is too.
Josh O’Connor and Daniel Craig in “Wake Up Dead Man” Photo Credit: Netflix
Rian Johnson has a meticulous craft that works for these films, I’d love to see more stuff from him outside of these but if he continues these for the rest of time life will be better for everyone. Hilarious in parts that can get deeply profound at times, with its commentary on religion and morality this film becomes more than just a whodunnit mystery. Brilliantly acted with a series best performance from Josh O’Connor, “Wake Up Dead Man” is a must add to watchlists, in theatres however will always be the better experience, this is electric with a crowd.
Releases in select UK cinemas November 26th and on Netflix December 12th
