Wake Up Dead Man review – Is this the best Knives Out film yet?

As a place where mysteries and confessions are the stuff of the everyday, the Catholic church is a milieu that serves as the ideal backdrop for a whodunnit. And in addition to affording Johnson the chance to make very cinematic use of religious iconography – from dramatic pulpit addresses to symbolically absent crucifixes to flirtations with the concept of resurrection – the setting allows him to make a pointed and very relevant satire about faith and the way contemporary right-wing American figures have weaponised Christianity to their own ends.

This is largely achieved through the character of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), an intimidating priest who serves as the cult-like figurehead of Our Lady of Perpetual Grace, the small church that is soon to become our crime scene. The Monsignor does not come across as an especially holy or pious man, but the undoubted charisma with which he delivers his increasingly warped fire and brimstone sermons has allowed him to build up a small but unflinchingly loyal band of worshippers, each of whom hang on his every word as they bid to mend their lost souls.

However, Wicks's unique interpretation of the Gospels is far less endearing to O'Connor's Reverend Jud Duplenticy, a younger, morally conflicted priest who has been sent to the Parish as punishment for an incident that saw him losing his cool and punching another clergymen in the face. Unsurprisingly, the pair immediately get off on the wrong foot, and so when Wicks winds up dead in confounding circumstances, it's only a matter of time before Jud emerges as a key person of interest – leading him to the ever-astute Blanc, who has been called in to assist the local police in their investigations.

Interestingly, the question for the detective on this occasion is not just who committed the murder but how they were able to accomplish the deadly deed. Wicks was found with a knife in his back in a small sacristy just seconds after his congregation had seen him leave the pulpit, with seemingly no rational explanation for how this might have happened.

And so, we are presented with what Blanc terms an "impossible crime", with Johnson's script making several references to John Dickson Carr's The Hollow Man – regarded by many experts as the finest example of the "locked room mystery". It's a tantalising set-up that's sure to hook in any audience member, and that's just the beginning: things only get wilder from there.

Of course, the great joy of any Knives Out film lies in the gradual unraveling of the mystery, and so to give away any of the surprises that lie in store from this point would be to spoil the fun.

But it's safe to say that this particular entry in the series gets a little darker, a little more unsettling and a whole lot weirder than either of the previous instalments.

Without losing any of the humour that made the earlier films such a success, Johnson embraces elements of gothic horror and even a bit of – to quote Mila Kunis's local police chief – "Scooby Doo s**t," as the nature of the events surrounding the crime and its aftermath get increasingly foggy. And speaking of fog, despite the Easter setting, a gloomy atmosphere pervades the film that gives it an unmistakably wintry feel.

There are admittedly times where the case threatens to get a little too convoluted for it's own good: it almost appears as if Johnson is trying to move around so many jigsaw pieces that things occasionally seem to be getting away from him. But the audience needn't fear. Like Benoit Blanc himself, the writer/director is always in control, and if it sometimes feels like he's lost the thread, rest assured that it's all part of a carefully constructed plan that will eventually lead us to a hugely satisfying denouement (not to mention one of the finest closing needle drops of recent years.)

Along the way, Craig is reliably entertaining as "proud heretic" Blanc, a character who – three films in – he seems to be having no less fun playing.

Meanwhile, plenty of names in the A-list supporting cast are given moments to shine, with O'Connor, Brolin and Glenn Close the standout performers.

It all adds up to a film that might just be the best entry in the series so far; at the very least it'll have fans begging Johnson and Craig for several more.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is released in cinemas on 26th November and coming to Netflix on 12th November. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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