A very well-thought-out and well-presented piece.

There is one point I disagree on though, and that is the framing of Jud's helping Louise resulting in tangible benefit for him. It's not inaccurate, per se - the events did happen as you described them - but it undercuts Jud's Damascus moment. Praying with Louise *was* the benefit, not a path to one. I know you're not impugning Jud's intent - he did it because it was the right thing for him to do, not for future gain - but connecting the action to the gain makes it feel... I dunno, tainted, transactional. The point of the scene is that you do good things because they're good, not because they will get you some reward, even indirectly.

I also think it's a mischaracterization of Louise; it contains a presumption that she wouldn't have contacted him with the vital information had he not done that. In the first half of the scene she is quite patient and kind with Jud, politely pushing back when this man she doesn't know keeps interrupting her asking for information she doesn't have, and proactively offering to get back to him when she does. It never occurred to me that she might not follow through; as the customer-facing voice of a small town family-run construction business, of course she would help out one of their few valuable customers. That's just basic customer service.

I was the Catholic technical consultant on this film and had the pleasure of watching it come together from the time that the script was in draft form. I enjoyed your reflections on this film, especially your assessment of the role of faith in the ministry of Fr Jud. May more of us Christians reflect Jud's sincere love for God and neighbor. Blessings to you!

Im an atheist myself and I’ve always been disappointed by the portrayal of Christianity in media. It’s always over idealized by the Christians and looked down on by everyone else (sometimes justifiably and for important messages). I always really appreciate when people take the time to see the good in what other people believe and how they live their lives. I think that media is a powerful teacher so the more open minded and diverse it is the better.

One of my favorite details about Jud is the neck tattoo from his boxing days. It's always visible poking out of his collar. He could cover it up or wear higher collars, but he doesn't. He wears that reminder of his past life because he's not afraid to admit his failings.

I can't say I believe in any higher power but I am such a sucker for genuinely good priest. A person who uses faith, grace and patience as guiding forces to care for ones community is beautiful.

I'm surprised people think Wake Up Dead Man is anti-religion, when I read it the opposite. It's actually quite complimentary to religion. The protagonist is a believer, and not just a believer, but a good person and a true believer whose faith is never shaken, not fully. He ends the movie just as faithful. Yes, there are bad examples as well, but the Priest is constantly choosing faith. And interestingly, then Le Blanc is giving his atheist rant, I noticed the chapel is dark, the atmosphere brooding. But when the priest is countering Le Blanc, the sun comes out, fills the chapel and it's presented as the hopeful outlook for the movie. And that scene pretty much tells you everything you need to understand about the religious message of the film.

The phone call scene hit so hard. I grew up Catholic and have conflicting feelings about religion, but fuck that moment . . .

When I first saw it, I thought that Wake Up Dead Man was my least favourite movie of the three (though I still liked it). But over the next few days I kept thinking about it and about Father Jud. How the movie didn't think his faith was silly, but didn't condemn Blanc as a evil apostate either. How it showed a form of Christianity that (while I still would not believe) I would still be able to recognise as a societal good. I just wish there were more Juds than Wicks in real life (or, at least, that the Juds were louder). This movie is definitely my favourite Knives Out.

As part of my work, I have on-job learning about the signs of radicalisation and how to stop people going down that destructive path. The thing that struck me when I watched this movie was how much Wickes' core parishioners met those criteria. Regardless of the politics, radical groups will look for people who are at their most vulnerable, who will accept anything if it can promise them an improvement in their lives. And Jud's reaction to them is likewise a great example of how you're meant to prevent radicalisation, by being a safe , non-judgemental space who will help without expecting payment in return.

I honestly think this is the best in the franchise and that each movie has been better then the last. Making the suspects "more normal" made them more relatable and Judd has been the best "main character/suspect" yet

Atheist here.  Loved this movie, I made me cry

In a world of Wicks in religion, be a Judd 🙌

I am someone who is religious ,though I am on a bit of a spiritual journey with my faith.  I was raised by a catholic and an episcopalian and as a teen found myself voluntarily frequenting a non-denominational Christian Church where my friends family went. It informed a very different view of religion then what other people around me have had. It was a place of communal gathering as much as a place of worship. People took care of each other. Shared there troubles and offered a hand to help. The ideas of religion that were brought to us were aimed at drawing us together in mutual strength and to set aside our differences not to erase them. It made me see the best religion could offer in people. It has also made me disgusted by the way people use religion to divide. I want to live in the world that my old youth minster preached because is wouldnt have hated me for being trans or bi. It wouldnt have rejected so many of the scientific advancements of our era. It would have seen helping others as the highest order value regardless of those peoples beliefs. I desire that in my life again.

I grew up in the church. The pastor of my youth, was somewhat like Jud; calm, compassionate, ever-listening. My family and I moved  away and our new pastor was like Wicks; divisive, grandstanding, & political.
I hated it. I knew something was wrong and it BOTHERED me that all the adults around me seemed to think him acceptable. (My bff and I bonded over long talks about the way things SHOULD be, in a proper church.)

I love this movie for finally showing the "truth" (if you will) behind religion.
Also I love your breakdown of the concept of Grace at the end. Because that Grace is TRULY what it's all about. God gives grace to us, and through doing so, frees us to do the same for others.
And I have watched over the years how many different churches have replaced Grace with Judgement, many of my friends and other young people have recognized the way our churches have drifted away from goodness into hatred. But I feel heartened by how many of us are committed to "righting the ship", committed to choosing Love and Grace over hatred whenever possible. And I hope that by making that choice again and again we can, eventually, collectively, guide our communities away from hatred❤

The interesting thing about the pulpit is that they've largely been done away with by the highly second Vatican council, churches built after the 1970's don't have them at all anymore and they remain in older churches as an ornate decoration now

Wick's usage of the pulpit actively places him as someone that hates the church because he sides against Vatican II

That phone call scene hit me hard
I'm a Rabbi.  While my wife and I were watching I paused after the scene and just sat for a moment and said, "This. This is why I do what I do.  Because at any moment, someone in crisis can ask me for help.  And I know that they don't want me to solve the problem, or tell them how to, they just want to not feel alone in their crisis."  
The reality is that when I get one of these kinds of calls, I don't talk about God, or the holy texts, or mystical stuff.  I just ask them to share what they're feeling and just listen.

As a Christian myself, I really enjoyed this movie because it really emphasized my current views on Christianity. So many media seem to belittle, criticize or mock Christianity (and sometimes for understandable reasons) but this film really displayed my POV on my religion, because sadly, I know too many Christians who view the world and their religion the way Wicks does, and they were the ones I saw hating the movie the most, because they only seem to know distrust and resentment. They are the ones who see wolves everywhere and now anyone and anything are wolves out to get them. Christianity then becomes a means to suppress some and uplift others depending on how well they fit their slanted worldview. That is not Christianity, or at least not what it’s supposed to be. Christianity is a calling, not a mandate, and many people go their whole lives never answering that call. That is fine. Christians are not supposed to force everyone to God, but to love them, accept them, forgive them when they’ve done wrong; and support them when they need us to, and I personally think you don’t need to be a Christian or pray to God to follow these principles. Sadly, I just feel like the Church and many Christians reject this idea of faith in favor of a system that they can benefit from. So I’m glad this movie shed some light on what religion is meant to be, and not what it has unfortunately become

peak hair

I liked this movie because it, to me, shows the good side of religion vs the bad side of religion. I left the Church because too many people are Wicks and I don't want to be associated with that. But if more of the religion were Judds... I would come back in a heartbeat.

I think this is one of the most insightful outlines of religion I've seen in a while. As a Catholic, I'd like to add another consideration which is specific to the religion which Jud represents. Besides the grace which we can receive and offer to one another (which flows from God), which strengthens the individual to reckon with the truth and to better themselves, you might have noticed that in Christianity it is suffering---not self-improvement---which takes center stage. In the end, there are problems which we cannot solve---and which God doesn't just poof away---that we just have to endure...

except we don't. We have so many ways to avoid suffering. We distract ourselves from the truth or our feelings about it. We invalidate those feelings and force ourselves to be stoics. We deny reality and play pretend. We bottle things up and take anger out on others. We convince ourselves that whatever we fail to achieve was just sour grapes. We kill ourselves to get away from suffering. And we've used all these methods since the dawn of time. Some of them are real philosophies that people espouse. But Christianity doesn't escape suffering. Christianity is ultimately the religion of grief.

Point being. the meaning in the grace we offer to others isn't just found in believing in them, but also in being willing to suffer for them. The thing about living in relationships with other people is that they are going to betray us, annoy us, offend us, abuse us. And yes, part of grace is the hope that the other person will repent and be better. But another part of grace is facing the fact that the other person will just keep hurting you, and loving them anyway.

In real life, when someone like Benoit sacrifices a win in order to offer grace to another person, like as not that grace will be rejected. And that's a huge problem for someone like Benoit who operates on the exterior, where efficiency is the measure of everything. But meaning does not require efficiency. An act is meaningful whether it "succeeds" or not. And as far as I know, that's the only solution to the fact that we have almost no control over our lives.