After watching Glass Onion a few years back I decided to give the sequel Wake Up Dead Man a go. I'm not in love with Benoit Blanc, the supposedly master detective character, and the cast of characters from the first film were very unlikeable, but I did think the writing was okay. This sequel is star-studded and filled with a lot of religious hoopla, both downsides for me, but what the heck. It's Christmas!
The premise: a former boxer and currently disgraced young Catholic priest is sent to a remote parish where the old priest in charge is chasing off his congregation with his fiery and highly prejudiced attitude. From the beginning the old priest takes a strong dislike to the young one, and does everything he can to patronize and alienate him. The old priest also has a bizarre control hold on a small group of his most loyal parishoners, all of whom seem to be worshipping him instead of God. Then the old priest is murdered in the middle of mass, and everyone decides to blame the young priest for the killing.
Upside: I did like seeing Andrew Scott in the movie; he's one of my favorite actors from Sherlock, and he plays a washed up SF writer character which tickled me. Downsides: alas, a lot. With the exception of the young priest the characters in this film (including the supposedly master detective) are basically all unlikeable; some you actually hate from the start. My time is precious; I don't want to waste it watching a bunch of people I dislike that much, and I almost wish I hadn't this time. The puzzle, as with the first movie, was almost too intricate. The disrespect to the Catholic faith is obvious, and toward the end almost lampoonish. While I'm not bothered by that I know the faithful will be.
Wake Up Dead Man isn't a terrible film, but it's not a great one, either. Available on Netflix.
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