Following the 'big and broad' spectacle of 2022's Glass Onion, director Rian Johnson and his star detective Daniel Craig were determined to take a different tack for the next instalment in the beloved Knives Out franchise. Their solution was to craft a more intimate, personally-charged mystery, which has now materialised as Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.
'We thought it could be fun to pull it down to earth a little bit for the next one,' Johnson explained in an interview. 'My translation for how to do that was to find something personal to write about.' This personal spark led Johnson to mine his own complex history with faith, having grown up in a Christian household but no longer identifying as a believer.
A Darker, Cosier Mystery with a Religious Twist
While still retaining the series' signature humour, Wake Up Dead Man ventures into darker, cosier territory. The crime is set within a Catholic Church community in small-town Upstate New York, a setting Johnson found tantalising for its inherent moral conflicts.
'They show that it can be a bit like peanut butter and chocolate with the themes of morality and human guilt and culpability that come with the faith discussion, and a story where somebody’s murdered, and you have to find the guilty person for it,' Johnson said, citing the influence of Agatha Christie and G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown stories.
At the heart of the new mystery is Josh O'Connor's character, Father Judd Duplenticy, a 'young, dumb and full of Christ' boxer-turned-reverend. After being sent to a minor parish as punishment for an infraction, he finds himself implicated in the murder of his eccentric new boss, Monsignor Wicks, played by Josh Brolin.
Johnson admitted that crafting Judd was a challenge. 'I was initially putting in him all the things that I still treasure in my memories about my time as a Christian... But he was also the most difficult, because you put all that in a character… and it’s a pretty boring character! So you’ve got to figure out what his actual conflict is.'
An A-List Ensemble and Their Personal Connections
The film boasts a formidable cast, including Glenn Close, Kerry Washington, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Andrew Scott, and Daryl McCormack. Many of the actors found deep personal connections to the film's themes.
Cailee Spaeny, who plays disabled former cellist Simone, shared, 'Rian and I had very similar upbringings in the church, and whether you’re still in the church or you’ve left, it’s something that will always be close to me.'
Mila Kunis, who portrays the local police chief Geraldine, recalled a fascinating early conversation with Johnson about 'his 20s and his realisation about life versus church. I grew up in a Jewish family as an atheist... I find religion to be fascinating.'
For Kerry Washington, her character Vera resonated deeply after writing her memoir, which dealt with family and belonging. 'This idea of how we define family... what is loyalty... what is truth? Those ideas are very ripe for me.'
Daryl McCormack, who plays the entitled, gilet-wearing Cy, noted his character's unsettling relevance. 'Cy has this beautiful monologue at the beginning where he’s listing all the things that he’s tried his hand at [including book-banning, 5G conspiracy theories and anti-trans rhetoric] and yet he seems dumbfounded that he doesn’t make for a good politician.'
Daniel Craig: Beyond Bond and Into Blanc
Daniel Craig returns with a new, shaggier hairstyle but the same flamboyant charm as the Southern detective Benoit Blanc. His performance is a world away from the stoic James Bond, but director Rian Johnson firmly disputes any notion that he 're-introduced' Craig as a comedic talent.
'Obviously I love him in the Bond films,' Johnson stated, 'but I had seen him in a lot of his other work, and I had seen him on stage... I just always knew this is an actor who has an almost infinite toolbox to pull from. He can kind of do anything.'
The film offers a few more tantalising glimpses into Blanc's personal life, including an unexpected use of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera overture. 'Licensing that piece of music from the soundtrack album for it made me very, very happy,' Johnson disclosed.
However, fans hoping for a full-blown Benoit Blanc origin story prequel should not hold their breath. 'Blanc is only interesting to me in so far as he is the detective in a whodunnit movie,' Johnson explained. 'I’m never going to be interested in taking a side road to explore an element of his personality or a flashback.' He does, however, enjoy dropping 'tiny hints of a previous case that he solved that was very famous at the Kentucky Derby' to suggest a larger world.
The all-star cast reportedly formed a tight-knit community on set. Kerry Washington noted, 'We all had trailers, but we never went [in them]. Once we were on set, we were together all day long... sharing our souls.'
Andrew Scott was particularly inspired by his legendary co-star, Glenn Close. 'She’s just a bit of an icon, isn’t she?... and just her insane passion for acting. She cares and wants to know what people are talking about... I found that very inspiring for somebody who doesn’t need to be like that.'
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is in select cinemas from November 26 and will begin streaming exclusively on Netflix from December 12.
