Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig<\/a>) tackles his biggest mystery yet\u2014the existence of God and the transcendent miracles He alone can produce\u2014in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery<\/i><\/a>, the third entry in Rian Johnson<\/a>\u2019s star-studded sleuthing series.<\/p>\n Predictably, the Almighty is no match for the peerless detective, whose newest case involves a small-town priest with a shady past who\u2019s suspected of slaying his Monseigneur in a fashion that seems, to the unrivaled gumshoe, \u201cimpossible.\u201d<\/p>\n Slightly downplaying its funniness in favor of ghostly gothic thrills and theological questions about faith, doubt, and absolution, the film\u2014premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival<\/a> ahead of its Nov. 26 theatrical release and Dec. 12 Netflix bow\u2014is another intricate, rousing whodunit that maintains the franchise\u2019s undefeated record.<\/p>\n Wake Up Dead Man<\/i> may pivot around its incomparably intelligent protagonist, but it sidelines him for its lengthy first chapter in order to lay the groundwork for his inevitable deductive magic.<\/p>\n Reverend Jud (Josh O\u2019Connor<\/a>) is a boxer-turned-priest with a dark secret who, thanks to his punchy temper, is sent to a remote New York parish whose sole priest, Monseigneur Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin<\/a>), is described by Jud\u2019s compatriot (Jeffrey Wright<\/a>) as a \u201cd—.\u201d<\/p>\n As Jud quickly learns, that assessment is spot on. Wicks is a domineering demagogue whose righteous fury stems from his bitterness toward his mother, the \u201cHarlot Whore,\u201d who sought her father\u2019s enigmatic fortune (which he likened to the Garden of Eden\u2019s apple) and, after failing to acquire it, trashed the church.<\/p>\n This original sin is as fundamental to Wicks as the one in the Bible, and it fuels his nastiness, compelling him to scare away prospective parishioners, antagonize anyone who enters his orbit, and rail about the need to protect oneself against the world with toughness and violence.<\/p>\n With a scruffy beard and long gray locks, the fire-and-brimstone Wicks looks more than a bit like the man upstairs, and he doesn\u2019t care for Jud, torturing the transplant with highly detailed confessions about his masturbation habits.<\/p>\n Jud isn\u2019t fond of Wicks either, and he\u2019s frustrated by the loyalty of the Monseigneur\u2019s dwindling disciples, who include boozy divorc\u00e9 Dr. Nat (Jeremy Renner<\/a>), handicapped cellist Simone (Cailee Spaeny<\/a>), on-the-rocks sci-fi author Lee (Andrew Scott<\/a>), bitter lawyer Vera (Kerry Washington<\/a>), and Vera\u2019s failed-politician \u201cson\u201d Cy (Daryl McCormack<\/a>), who\u2019s actually the bastard child of her father and, therefore, her brother.<\/p>\n To this mix of future suspects, Wake Up Dead Man<\/i> also adds groundskeeper Samson (Thomas Haden Church<\/a>) and the church\u2019s jack-of-all trades Martha (Glenn Close<\/a>), who loved Wicks\u2019 dad like a father.<\/p>\n From the instant he arrives, Jud is made to feel like an unwanted outsider, and his standing goes from bad to worse when, during Good Friday service, Wicks takes a temporary breather in a storage closet and, seconds later, drops dead\u2014the victim, all evidence suggests, of a blade in his back that boasts as its handle the same demon-head lamp finial that a drunken Jud had discarded near the church. Since Jud was on the chancel at the time of Wicks\u2019 murder, and there\u2019s no alternate way in or out of the closet (or anywhere to hide a device that might have facilitated the stabbing), everyone is perplexed.<\/p>\n