It's tough to find movies for the whole family to watch; my own childhood is full of memories of disagreements over which Netflix sleeve to open or how to fit in all the seasonal classics during the tight schedule of Christmas. That's exactly why the first Knives Out (2019), from director and screenwriter Rian Johnson, was such a blessing — a funny, compelling, tight mystery without any bait for family arguments, premiering squarely in Thanksgiving weekend. It's also why Johnson's sequel, Glass Onion (2022), was such a letdown — glossy and high-budget thanks to Netflix's infinite coffers, but without any of the same wit or intrigue as its predecessor. 

Fortunately, the third installment in the series, Wake Up Dead Man, drifts us back in the direction of the first. Johnson returns with the familiar big-cast ensemble whodunnit format, but this time with a darker and more mystical premise set in a cliquish Catholic parish that broaches interesting questions of faith and community. 

We're introduced to that parish at the same time as Father Jud Duplenticy (Josh O'Connor), a boxer who, after killing a man in the ring, turned to God and joined the Catholic church. He's assigned there under the watchful eye of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), who runs a tough and unwelcoming congregation that protects its members and shuns outsiders. Jud slowly learns the drama and gossip behind the church, known as Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude, including a mysterious fortune that vanished with the death of Wicks' grandfather. After Jud and Wicks clash repeatedly over Wicks' firebrand style (and the undying loyalty it commands from his congregants), Wicks is found murdered. Of course, Jud is the top suspect. 

Enter Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), the series' flamboyant Southern detective. Called by local sheriff Geraldine (Mila Kunis), he arrives at Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude eager to solve another mystery. The congregants don't make it easy; hostile towards outsiders, especially one as skeptical of organized religion as Blanc, they clearly hold secrets. Without nearly any evidence, Jud is a hard suspect to defend, even as the mystery of the Wicks fortune looms large over the investigation. Yet the longer Blanc stays, the faster the case gets away from him, and when Monsignor Wicks appears to be resurrected from the dead, it turns into his hardest case yet.

In general, Wake Up Dead Man gets back to the small-scale tension that made Knives Out so great. Most scenes take place in the chapel or its quaint surroundings, prizing quick dialogue and interpersonal character dynamics over the flashy scope of Glass Onion. Although cinematographer Steve Yedlin is the same, the shadowy corners and eerie forests are a more intriguing setting for his talents than a billionaire's island. Lead performances are also better than those of its predecessor; Craig is given meatier dialogue as he clashes about matters of the soul with his Catholic counterparts; Brolin is equal parts goofy and acerbic as the critical lynchpin and cultish leader of his church; and O'Connor continues establishing himself as a star with the same mousy glint that made him a great foil in Challengers (2024). 

Admittedly, the rest of the ensemble is less consistent. For some, it's a casting issue: Glenn Close is believable as a devout church administrator, while Mila Kunis is not as a sheriff. For others, blame rests in the script: Andrew Scott, a personal favorite actor, is reduced to a crappy one-note author past his prime, while Thomas Haden Church is left almost entirely wordless. Still others are just a skill difference: Irish actor Daryl McCormack effortlessly slips into eliciting big laughs as a conservative grifter, while Cailee Spaeny continues her mediocre run from Civil War (2024). Across the board, even though Wake Up Dead Man is overlong in its 146-minute runtime, supporting characters are somehow still given short shrift. While some are entertaining, most feel like caricatures. 

That fact reduces the intrigue or momentum behind the central mystery, too, as only a couple congregants have remotely enough going on to sustain believability that they might have killed Wicks. (This is a problem ameliorated a bit by the mausoleum resurrection and the later discovery of a particularly disfigured corpse, both especially cool scenes that add needed twistiness to the plot.) 

Luckily, the actual mystery matters a little less in this installment than in the two prior, thanks to Wake Up Dead Man's solid commentary on faith and spirituality. Three distinct portraits of religiosity are painted by Jud's simplicity, Wicks' hellfire, and Blanc's agnosticism, and when they clash we get a level of nuance rare in the series. One of the film's most memorable scenes, for instance, occurs when Jud feels he has sunk too deep into the murder investigation and neglected his fatherly duties. To Blanc's disbelief, he spends hours consoling a mourner instead of making headway on the search for the Wicks fortune, offering an alternative views of justice and responsibility perfectly appropriate for the two characters.

At the end of the day, I was just happy to get to the theaters unbothered during a cozy family holiday weekend. But I was especially happy that the movie was actually good.