Hello everyone! We are all about fall over here, and of course, snuggling up with the perfect fall movies (for us) is part of our autumnal celebrations.

We usually watch movies on Sundays, and this past Sunday our movie pick was Wake Up Dead Man, which is part of the Knives Out Mystery movies. I loved the first two, and really didn’t think they could get better. Then, I watched this one, and in my opinion this one blew the others right out of the water.

Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc is always fun to watch, but dang if Josh O’Connor didn’t steal this movie in my opinion, with his performance. He played Larry in The Durrells, one of my favorite shows, and I was so happy to see him in this movie. He plays a rough and tumble priest, whose origin was in the boxing ring before turning to the Catholic Church. This background served him well after an altercation with a deacon sends him to a new parish, one in upstate New York. But you will have to watch it to find out why.

When Father Jud Duplenticy (O’Connor) arrives to this new parish, it feels and looks a bit…off. Monsignor Wicks (played brilliantly by Josh Brolin) is a hellfire and brimstone priest, literally raging from the pulpit which stands high above the parishioners, and looks a bit like the prow of a boat bringing to mind the Puritans. He believes we need to fight the world, rather than love it, which is the opposite of Father Jud’s belief. He has a devoted little following, who are distrustful of Father Jud, and are not particularly welcoming to the young priest. Martha, played by Glenn Close was amazing. It has been far too long since I have seen her in a movie and she can play crazed fanatic so well. Lol. Thomas Haden Church played the laid back groundskeeper, and Martha’s boyfriend, Jeremy Renner, Cailee Spaeny, Mila Kunis, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Daryl McCormack, all round out the rest of the Wicks’ Ride or Dies.

This movie took the locked room mystery to a new level, and while the methods were slightly ridiculous (and on purpose I am sure, as part of the movie’s goal) it definitely made this movie very suspenseful and almost impossible to figure out. This movie never stopped, something was always happening, and the characters were both pitiable and mean. They have their own lore as well, with the mystery of a fortune gone missing when Wick’s grandfather, the former priest, dies without leaving a hint as to where it is. It was meant to go to his daughter, Grace, also known in the movie as the “Harlot Whore” yet when he died, his accounts were empty. So where is it? Where is this fortune?

Father Jud was endearing as a priest who was at odds with his Monsignor. Jud was about love and finding forgiveness and peace in God’s love, and here he was with a man who preached nothing but judgement and hate, who manipulated and played games. He was a tough guy, with the instincts of a fighter, but in his heart he wanted to help others find that love. One scene in particular stands out, where he and Benoit are in the middle of their investigation, which Jud completely stops so that he can help someone in need.

The setting itself was gorgeous and spooky, with a beautiful church and rectory, surrounded by an army of trees that engulf it all, making it seem like an isolated island in the middle of nowhere and added to the intenseness and suspense.

I loved this movie and I am very impatiently waiting for the next one to come out. Rian Johnson has said there will be more but as of yet there are none on the horizon. This one was a masterpiece, and had so many layers beyond what we see; as always, it was a poke at our culture and society, I also loved the references thrown in, including a few for one of my favorites, Father Brown.

This was definitely a sweater weather movie, and I am glad that I saved it for autumn movie watching!

Whatever you are watching this fall, drop your link here and let’s share our sweater weather cinema experiences!