\n\t\t<\/aside>\nThe film focuses on two perspectives of Christianity \u2014 the monsignor\u2019s hateful and ignorant rhetoric and the reverend\u2019s belief in forgiveness and empathy for all, not only those who fit into a preconceived idea of who is and is not deserving of our kindness.<\/p>\n
\u201cWake Up Dead Man\u201d explores how many Christians bastardize and manipulate Jesus\u2019 teachings to excuse an ideologically (and often, physically) violent agenda. The film\u2019s title appears to reference Jesus Christ himself, seemingly pleading for faith to return to its original intentions of saving sinners and acting as a safe haven for the lost and the needy \u2014 not a \u201cget out of jail free\u201d card for the powerful and privileged to use when they\u2019ve acted immorally. The film critiques those who abuse their power, spreading hate in the name of a \u201cChristian\u201d moral agenda \u2014 of which Jesus\u2019 teachings were in direct opposition. Those who use propaganda and fear tactics to coerce others in joining a hateful witch hunt \u2014 often with a loyalty bordering on obsession.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While the ideology of \u201cWake Up Dead Man\u201d is ever-relevant, the film is not without its flaws \u2014 its handling of another staple of the Knives Out franchise, for example. Each film in the series features a star-studded ensemble cast; \u201cWake Up Dead Man\u201d stars Kerry Washington (\u201cScandal\u201d), Cailee Spaeny (\u201cPriscilla\u201d), Glenn Close (\u201cFatal Attraction\u201d), Jeremy Renner (\u201cThe Town\u201d), Andrew Scott (\u201cFleabag\u201d) and Mila Kunis (\u201cBlack Swan\u201d).<\/p>\n
Although the cast is obviously very strong, composed exclusively of highly decorated actors, \u201cWake Up Dead Man\u201d often fails to use this talented cast to their full potential. While the performances themselves are incredible, especially (and unsurprisingly) those of Close and O\u2019Connor, Johnson\u2019s clear attempts to make each character well-rounded aren\u2019t always enough to make an audience truly care. This works differently from the original \u201cKnives Out,\u201d where the film\u2019s secondary characters each felt complicated and engaging enough to stand on their own while also giving each actor plenty of material to work with.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The issue with \u201cWake Up Dead Man\u201d might not have been a problem if the film was able to bolster the lack of \u201cKnives Out\u201d-level depth with comedy. However, while there are more than enough comedic moments to keep the film\u2019s sense of humor alive, \u201cWake Up Dead Man\u201d is missing the pure comedic charm brought to \u201cGlass Onion\u201d by Kate Hudson (\u201cHow to Lose a Guy in Ten Days\u201d), Kathryn Hahn (\u201cThe Studio\u201d) and Madelyn Cline (\u201cThe Map that Leads to You\u201d) that could have compensated for its characters being less engaging than those of the original.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\nIn spite of this, I will give \u201cWake Up Dead Man\u201d a certain amount of grace. To be a sequel to \u201cKnives Out\u201d is to be the younger sibling of a Harvard-bound piano prodigy \u2014 nothing it does will ever feel quite good enough. And that\u2019s not Johnson\u2019s fault. Competing with a modern-day whodunnit that both satirizes and perfectly encapsulates its own genre all while subverting expectations and <\/em>delivering a mid-movie genre flip that switches back right in time for an audience to leave feeling both dumbfounded and satisfied? That\u2019s not for the faint of heart.\u00a0<\/p>\nIn fact, from a more technical filmmaking perspective, \u201cWake Up Dead Man\u201d is incredibly well-rounded. Steve Yedlin\u2019s (\u201cBrick\u201d) cinematography works beautifully. Yedlin plays around with lighting to highlight the juxtaposition between the darkness with which Christianity has become synonymous and the light it was originally meant to inspire. The set design of the film also plays a major role in the film\u2019s visual storytelling, using a castle-esque church exterior and a bare sanctuary to paint the church and its leader as overbearing and cold \u2014 qualities that directly oppose Duplenticy\u2019s views of what Christianity should be. This helps to paint the Blanc companion\u2019s views in a more heroic light, highlighting the perspective on Christianity and its core values with which Johnson wants his audience to walk away.<\/p>\n
\u201cWake Up Dead Man\u201d may not be \u201cKnives Out,\u201d but it\u2019s certainly an excellent mystery film full of twists and turns that make it more than worth a watch. Whether you\u2019re a movie theater truther or a watch-from-home warrior, theaters and Netflix alike have you covered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Managing Arts Editor Olivia Tarling can be reached at <\/em>tarling@umich.edu<\/em><\/a>.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\n
Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe\u2019re with you, Monsignor. And literally nothing you say or do is going to change that.\u201d Mystery fans everywhere can rejoice \u2014 \u201cKnives Out\u201d is finally back. Rian Johnson\u2019s iconic whodunnit franchise, known for its sharp social commentary, tends to dissect a different element of American privilege and hypocrisy in each film. This time, modern […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[3117,1946,3118,3120,3119,62,3121],"class_list":{"0":"post-2992","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-craig","9":"tag-daniel","10":"tag-josh","11":"tag-knives","12":"tag-oconnor","13":"tag-star","14":"tag-threequel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2992"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2994,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2992\/revisions\/2994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}