Paying For Your Sins - Wake Up Dead Man

The following contains basically no spoilers for Wake Up Dead Man

Rian Johnson understands the assignment.

When Knives Out came out in 2019, it felt like a lark. Coming hot off one of the great Star Wars films, Rian Johnson cashed his check on a detective murder mystery starring Daniel Craig doing the most southern hokum accent imaginable. Inspired by Agatha Christie’s mysteries, the film was funny, clever, and an absolute joy. There was no guarantee that Johnson would make more, but then Netflix bought the rights to two sequels. The first was Glass Onion (which came out in 2022). The second is Wake Up Dead Man, which is in theaters now in a limited release and will be on Netflix in a few weeks.

Unfortunately, because Netflix doesn’t like the idea of using theaters to promote offerings for their service, these films have not gotten as wide a release as Johnson (or any fan of movies, for that matter) would have hoped. It’s too bad. Losing myself in a Benoit Blanc mystery (or any Rian Johnson for that matter) is one of the great joys of modern cinema. The dude just makes good movies.

The response to Wake Up Dead Man will be more pitchy than Glass Onion or Knives Out. It’s not got the wood paneling of the Thromby Mansion or the luxurious elegance of Miles Braun’s private island. What it has instead is a small town and a church. But just like those movies he’s filled this one with an ensemble full of rich characters. Unlike the first two, however, he has made a deeply personal movie about faith, belief, religion, and how the three intersect.

And it’s flippin’ great.

Seriously, though. No spoilers

The casts of Benoit Blanc mysteries are utterly insane. Whatever cache Rian Johnson built in a post-Star Wars world and whatever he’s been feeding to Mary Vernieu1 has been working. All three of these films have a murderer’s row of a cast. I’m sure some of that (especially for the sequels) is because Netflix gave him a ridiculous budget to make these movies.

A lot of that, though, has to be Johnson’s scripts. He’s a hell of a writer, and seeing the results from all the actors, it’s clear they connect to his stories too. They’re very funny, but Johnson also brings a tremendous amount of pathos to his characters, giving every single one at least one moment that any actor would love to play. In Knives Out it’s Jamie Lee Curtis losing her mind after Frank Oz reads the will or Chris Evans getting to say “eat shit” over and over again or even Katherine Langford hanging up the phone after calling Marta. In Glass Onion it’s everything from Edward Norton’s reaction shots to Jessica Henwick relating how much working for Birdie has tanked her career to… god. Everything with Janelle Monae really. Could play this game all day.

Wake Up Dead Man is no exception. Everyone’s going to come out of this movie talking about Josh O’Connor (as they should), but Josh Brolin’s performance is magnificent and I’ve not seen him really do anything like this before. He appears at the pulpit like a fire and brimstone preacher, and even when he’s not in full priest mode he’s affably menacing. Glenn Close is fabulous as his assistant, Kerry Washington has moments of intense pathos… hell there’s even a two-scene performance by Jeffrey Wright, which he absolutely demolishes. It’s not that there’s no part too small, it’s that Rian Johnson simply doesn’t write any small parts.

That’s the secret to these movies working. All these characters populate a zippy plot and setting. Talented stars play them. No one overpowers anyone else, and the ensuing harmony adds to the success.

A little bit darker

It’ll be hard to see Wake Up Dead Man having the sort of impact that even Glass Onion did. There are certainly going to be audience members who deeply relate to Johnson’s themes of religion and faith, but the darker, more ominous tone is certain to turn people off. There’s a flashback at the beginning that feels particularly dangerous and terrifying; the night shooting adds to the sense of menace and mystery of what’s going on in this small community. Hell, there’s even the way light moves in the church, where the regularly shifting cloud cover will darken and brighten scenes depending on the current mood.

More than anything, what feels so bold about this movie is that this is unquestionably a Benoit Blanc mystery2 without feeling like the others. As a director, Johnson is so versatile that the characters can define the tone rather needing Benoit Blanc to dictate how these should operate.

Still, there are themes and such in this that will probably not resonate with the wider audience. While this is less pleasurable than the other two, there’s almost certainly going to be a point where I watch this movie over and over again. Glass Onion is one of my most rewatched films over the past few years and the pop sensibilities of 2020 existence are an utter joy to inhale. Wake Up Dead Man is certainly modern in a way most contemporary filmmakers try to avoid, but it’s less commenting on the culture. A particular zeitgeist doesn’t interest Johnson as much as the personal story at its center.

God knows I’ll rewatch it again and again and again though. I saw it for the first time two weeks ago and I just can’t wait for the opportunity to go back into it, with every future viewing an experience to see how all the pieces fit together.

The Netflix of it all (sorry in advance for the rant)

If there’s a problem with all this, though, it’s that it seems like Johnson made a less-than-great deal with Netflix when he signed on for two sequels. Sure, they gave him a metric ass ton of money and total creative freedom, but all things come at a cost. Glass Onion’s theatrical release was an extremely limited one-week engagement that hit some major theater chains in the busy Thanksgiving window. A glance at the current rollout for Wake Up Dead Man shows one that is likewise limited and in less major theaters, playing instead to the more indie-focused houses. This will probably help the movie’s per-screen average, but is also keeping the box office artificially low because… Netflix hates money, I guess.

Even worse, because these are Netflix releases and Netflix wants to keep their precious library valuable, there hasn’t been a home video release for Glass Onion (including digital) outside of living on Netflix servers. I suspect the same for Wake Up Dead Man. It’s not just a Johnson thing either. Mank and The Killer suffered the same treatment. KPop Demon Hunters might get something, but that’s because it’s a movie Sony produced that Netflix distributed.

I can’t imagine Rian Johnson likes this situation. If he did sign a deal with Netflix that didn’t include these valuable aspects, it feels like a devil’s bargain. The dude loves the theater experience and home releases of his movies. He’s a dude who still does director commentaries for his films. When Netflix didn’t want to add a commentary audio track for Glass Onion, he recorded it anyway and got Netflix to put it out as a one-off podcast. I’m sure he has some physical version of Glass Onion as a keepsake (probably on a reel too), but that’s simply not good enough in a world where digital services are fickle and have a history of removing films and television with neither warning nor fanfare.

Am I complaining about this because I deleted my Netflix account back in February even though I knew this movie was on the horizon? That’s part of it, sure. But paying Netflix $25 per month just so I can have access to a couple of movies is irrational. Considering I wasn’t dabbling much in Netflix’s new fare anyways (and haven’t missed it really at all since then) the only thing I really miss is being able to play Glass Onion whenever I want. But, again, that’s not worth $300 per year (or even a fraction of that if I split it amongst Netflix’s functionally infinite catalog).

It’s probably a longer point, but this sort of subscription model is really out of control. For all that people are struggling financially and feel like they’re barely making ends meet, we’ve created a network of subscription services that function as a toll for continued existence. And I don’t just mean Netflix and Apple Music. There’s also softwares that live off licenses rather than purchases. Was a time you could just buy Microsoft Office and get Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc in perpetuity. Now it’s a regular monthly (or yearly if they offer you two months free) deal. Pay them or you can’t do the work you need to.

To get specific: living in this modern society isn’t about buying things anymore. Companies would much rather rent to their customers than let them own something for a one-time fee. Why should sell a product when they can harness it to a tap and milk their users forever?

Speaking my language

All of this kvetching is unfortunate when really all I want to do is recommend a great movie to people. Wake Up Dead Man is a terrific release by one of my favorite filmmakers of the now. Much like Christopher Nolan, Rian Johnson makes the sort of movies I want to see. His rhythms and humor and style all feel like something that bypasses any of my firewalls or skepticism and injects directly into my bloodstream.

Rian Johnson will be fine. It’s likely all of this morass of Netflix being Netflix was an oversight when he signed the initial deal for Knives Out sequels. I doubt he’ll make the same deal in the future. He might not be at Christopher Nolan’s level, but if Nolan can make demands about his movies having exclusive access to IMAX screens for a full month, there’s no world where Rian Johnson can’t shop around for a different distributor that fits more in line with his film business values.

There are more Benoit Blanc movies coming. Based on how these first three have gone and the different settings and aesthetics Johnson has brought to them, they’ll always be innovative and creative and unlike anything else in movies right now. Johnson’s voice remains one of the best and most unique out there. His focus on character and his innate cinematic talent has led him to a marvelous filmography.

He’s only getting better, just like these (in their own way) are getting better. Wake Up Dead Man might not be the populist hit of Knives Out or the giddy ecstasy of Glass Onion, but its attempt to tackle a story that’s darker, more personal, and more intimate represents an evolution for these films.

They’re still funny. They’re still emotional. They’re still Swiss watch plots and labyrinthine mysteries that always turn out crystal clear despite a multitude of moving parts. They’re still primarily about characters while being topical and funny. Even if I managed to solve a part of the mystery before Blanc, it proves that the solution to the whodunnit is only the first step in a relationship that will continue for the rest of my life.

Hopefully, that life will be much, much longer than the murder victim in Wake Up Dead Man. But if you want to know who that is, you’ll just have to see for yourself.