Wake Up, Dead People - the Knives are Out

 I'm back! First post of the year. Took me a while. Everyone and their dog has probably seen Wake Up, Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery by now, but if you haven't, this post is going to be at least in part a review of that movie. While I won't be going into spoilers as such as part of this post (or that's the intent, anyway), if you'd prefer to go in blind, I guess find something else to read? Ths short version is: it's very good, and you should watch it. Anyway. I do say in part only, though, because part of why I wanted to write this is actually more of a reflection than a review. So we'll see how that goes.

Wake Up, Dead Man is now the third instalment in the Knives Out - what do we call it? Series? Franchise? Universe? - that feature our now-familiar detective friend, Benoit Blanc. After the success of both the original movie as well as Glass Onion, expectations were high with this third movie. As before, it's loaded with an absolutely star-studded cast, and people playing in some roles that it feels like they can really ham it up in, and have a lot of fun with it. It feels very much in the vein of an old Hercule Poirot vibe, though Benoit Blanc has a bit of a different feel to him than Poirot does. But still, plenty of drama!

This time, the setting is a small little Catholic church in upstate New York, currently led by Monsignor Wicks. However, our viewpoint is mostly from a fresh face to the church - Father Jud, recently assigned after an altercation with another priest who had spoken out of line. And the difference between these two could not be more stark: in Father Jud we see a gentleness and grace, whereas in Wicks we see brashness and retribution; in Jud we have a man who is humble and listens, but in Wicks we see ego talking at people. Joining them are the regulars at the church - the alcoholic doctor, recently separated; the author living in isolation; the groundskeeper, just doing his job; the lawyer and adoptive mother; the adopted son, recently returned from a stint in politics and now trying to make it big online; and Martha, the one who keeps it all together and does just about everything.

Somehow, in the middle of the Good Friday service, Wicks is killed - seemingly without anyone laying a hand on him. The police are grasping at straws, and so in strolls Benoit Blanc, who immediately enlists the help of Father Jud to get a more intimate knowledge of the case. And what a case it is, with twists and turns a plenty; but I'll let you watch the movie to discover those for yourself. If you can't tell by now, I think it was done very well once again, and I've already watched it twice over. It's a great film.

But I think part of what makes it such a great film, interestingly enough, is the focus on religion. Because I think it feels very timely; as did much of the rhetoric in Glass Onion. In the character of Monsignor Wicks, we see a lot of the worst of what religion can be (though there has been worse, I would argue) these days - a religion that fights against the world, builds big stone walls to keep everyone out, and judges harshly. A religion that is - hopefully obviously - rather antithetical to all that Jesus taught. But, to counteract this, we have the character of Father Jud, representing much of what the best of what religion can be - accepting, loving, listening, welcoming, caring, being there for people, wanting the best for people.

Unfortunately, there are all too many churches run by people not that far off from the character of Wicks. Perhaps not as egotistical or pointed as he was (though there are certainly examples of that as well); but many who see their role as being a fighter against the world, a protector of the true believers against the dark world that they see out there today. And part of the difficulty is that the world does feel very dark these days, and often feels like it keeps getting darker - and I think that can very well be true regardless of where you're looking from, or what you think that darkness is. But, as Jesus demonstrated, you do not hide away when the world is dark; you go out into it, and be light. You put the lamp on a lampstand, you be the city on a hill, the salt of the earth.

These days, I don't know where I'm at with religion any more. I haven't been to church in a long time, and I don't know if there really are any around that I would feel at home with. At one point I attempted to get a bit of a community going around this idea of those at the fringes of faith, but it sputtered out fairly quickly. But I do think we need more that take that example from Father Jud - and from Jesus. To be open and welcoming, rather than condemning and hostile. To be love, and light. Not an ivory tower.