I agree with Fr. Mike Schmitz’s review, in that I can’t fully endorse the movie, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, but at the same time, it does portray aspects of Catholicism in a positive light.

I was scrolling through Netflix over the Christmas holidays, looking for a Christmas movie when I found it. I did enjoy the previous two Knives Out mystery movies, so I settled in to watch it. The movie opens with the young priest punching a deacon and immediately I felt uncomfortable. I thought this was going to be a movie that would bash religion and specifically, the Catholic Church. Instead of relaxing and letting the story unfold, I felt I had a bit more of a critical eye when watching it. As Fr. Mike points out, Hollywood doesn’t understand how to portray Catholics, and some of it is more of a caricature and to a Catholic, some scenes seem a bit “off.” Yet in watching the movie in its entirety, there are portions of Catholicism that do shine through.

After the initial scene, the young priest gets assigned to a parish that seems a bit rebellious and is anything but welcoming. There are deep secrets that come out through the story which explain the attitudes of the parishioners. Ironically, the scene that I thought was more of a moment of humor, was what Fr. Mike brought out as the highlight of the movie. The young priest, working with the detective, is trying to get information that could help identify the true killer and clear the accusations against him. After conveying the sense of urgency in a phone call for the information, the woman asks the priest to pray for her. The movie doesn’t give too much detail, but conveys this is quite a long conversation and the detective, a self-proclaimed atheist, shows his frustration at what he considers a waste of time. Perhaps Fr. Mike noticed it because he is a priest, but he calls out that the young priest recognized his calling and his duty to minister to the woman. While I saw humor in the eye-rolling exaggeration of the detective’s response, Fr. Mike considers the scene an illustration of our calling: to do God’s will in whatever role he has given us. The young priest is not called to be a detective himself, but rather to minister to those that God puts in his path. 

For me the power of the movie was at the end. Just like in the previous two movies in the series, the detective calls all the potential suspects into one place for the big reveal. He gets everyone’s attention, but then falters. He realizes the power of free will. It is up to the killer to confess. In doing so, his reputation for solving murders takes a hit. Yet the killer bares all in the final confession to the young priest. And while, yes, this is a movie angle to provide the details of how it was done, it goes deeper. The young priest coaches the killer to forgive the person who was the cause for all the actions that followed. The detective could have revealed who the killer was, but may not have been able to provide as much detail as the killer did. More importantly, the killer was able to confess, receive forgiveness, and find peace, not because they were forced to, but to freely make the choice to do so. 

Free will is a gift, but can be a two-edge sword. In granting us the gift of free will, God allows us to choose if we want a relationship with Him, if we want to live as children of God, and obey the commandments that reflect being part of the divine family. As dazzling as the world is, we do see it everyday and even the most spectacular aspects of creation can be just ordinary in daily life. God does not put on enormous displays of His power to convince us of who He is. He gently pursues us where we are and encourages us to become the best version of ourselves that we can be, sometimes allowing our worst traits to bring about a greater good. We can freely say no to God and live a life of lies that we hold as our personal truths, as if we, ourselves, are divine and responsible for our circumstances. We can also say yes to God, and live a life of truth in faith. The choice is ours in every decision we make. 

If you have enjoyed the other two Knives Out movies, and are prepared for a movie that does not portray Catholicism in an idealistic way, this may be one to add to your watch list. Perhaps you, too, will find a nugget of faith shining where you least suspect it.