Director Rian Johnson consulted with his Catholic aunt and uncle while writing the script for the new 'Knives Out' movie, which is set in a Catholic church. The director's relatives arranged a dinner meeting with local Catholic priests, including Father Scott Bailey, for an 'Ask-Me-Anything session' about their lives. Father Scott Bailey served as a consultant for the film, titled 'Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,' which premieres on Netflix on December 12. The plot involves a young, earnest Catholic priest, Father Jud Duplenticy (played by Josh O’Connor), serving at a small-town parish led by a vulgar monsignor.
3 months ago
"Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery," the third installment in Rian Johnson's "Knives Out" series, streams on Netflix starting December 12, 2025.1 2
The story unfolds in a rural Catholic parish, Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude, where detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) investigates a locked-room murder of Msgr. Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin).1 2
Father Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor), a boxer-turned-priest, assists Blanc amid suspects including church staff, parishioners, and locals.1 2
Director Rian Johnson consulted Father Scott Bailey, pastor at Risen Christ Catholic Parish in Denver, for script accuracy on priestly life and parish details.1
Father Bailey advised on costumes, props, set design, and even suggested renaming a character "Monsignor" to fit the role.1
He also discussed ministry with actor Josh O’Connor, influencing Father Jud’s portrayal as a gentle, merciful priest.1
Father Jud emerges as a dedicated cleric prioritizing parishioners' spiritual needs, contrasting the vulgar, divisive Msgr. Wicks.1 2
Johnson, raised Protestant evangelical but no longer religious, drew from his background to explore faith's role in culture through a Catholic lens for aesthetic and narrative distance.1
Blanc, a self-proclaimed "proud heretic," debates faith with Father Jud, forming a friendship across divides while learning from priestly example.1 2
The film embeds messages of mercy and forgiveness in its mystery, with Father Jud embodying Christ's love for the broken.1
It examines storytelling in faith, parish life's complexities, and meeting people where they are spiritually.1
Elements of sin, grace, and absolution, including confession scenes, weave through the narrative, though some are treated controversially.2
Reviewers note an equivocal yet ultimately positive faith portrayal, praising pastoral insight but critiquing antipathy toward orthodox morals and frivolous confession depictions.2
The PG-13 film features violence, gore, language, crude sexual material, and smoking; OSV News rates it L for limited adult audience.1 2
Despite lacking prior entries' comic sparkle, it offers high dramatic quality amid problematic patches.2
Assess how Catholic clergy portray forgiveness and sin in contemporary media
Catholic clergy, guided by Church doctrine, are called to portray sin as a grave reality that wounds the soul and community while emphasizing God's boundless mercy and the sacrament of reconciliation as the path to healing. This balanced approach underscores the gravity of moral evil without descending into judgmentalism, and it explicitly cautions against the sensationalism often found in secular media coverage of scandals.
Church documents consistently affirm that sin, particularly grave sin after baptism, severs one's relationship with God and the ecclesial community, necessitating repentance and sacramental absolution. As outlined in foundational texts, Jesus instituted the sacrament of penance precisely for those who fall into serious sin post-baptism, offering a "second plank [of salvation] after the shipwreck which is the loss of grace." This portrayal avoids minimizing sin's consequences—such as the loss of baptismal grace and wounded communion—but frames it within salvation history, where Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection conquer sin. Clergy are thus instructed to acknowledge sin's objective weight, as in the Creed's profession of "the one baptism for the forgiveness of sins," extended through penance.
In contemporary contexts, this means priests must not shy away from naming sin's reality, even amid cultural pressures toward subjectivism. Pope Francis warns against an "individualism, subjectivism" that obscures the ecclesial dimension of sin, urging penitents to confess to a priest for assured forgiveness rather than claiming direct absolution from God alone. Yet, this gravity is never portrayed as despair-inducing; even sinful priests retain the power to absolve by virtue of ordination.
A hallmark of Catholic clerical portrayal is the priest as "instrument for the forgiveness of sins," transmitting God's mercy through the Church. Pope Francis exemplifies this in vivid, pastoral language: priests should forgive generously, like the Father embracing the prodigal son, without excessive questioning—"let them speak, and you forgive all." He shares personally, noting even the Pope confesses biweekly, reinforcing that all are sinners in need of mercy.
This merciful tone extends to sensitive issues like abortion, where clergy are encouraged to welcome the wounded with dignity, mitigate culpability where circumstances lessen it, and invite them to the "Sacrament of Mercy." Similarly, reflections on Veritatis Splendor stress mercy's role not just in forgiving but restoring the sinner, pairing sternness toward sin with patience toward persons, as Christ did. Clergy must thus depict forgiveness as transformative—"the resurrection of the heart"—fostering hope rather than shame.
One source directly addresses media dynamics: Pope John Paul II's 1993 letter to U.S. bishops condemns the mass media's role in sensationalizing moral evil, especially clerical scandals, which distorts human dignity and opens "the door to evil in the conscience... especially among the young." He invokes Christ's "Woe to the world because of scandals!" to critique how public opinion feeds on such portrayals, harming individuals' right to privacy and society's moral fabric. Clergy bear responsibility not only for their own sins but for countering societal scandalization.
This teaching implies that contemporary clerical media engagements—interviews, social media, homilies—should model restraint, prioritizing the "dignity of human conscience" over lurid details. Pope Francis echoes this indirectly by urging confessors to be "gentle, benevolent and merciful," planting hope rather than mistreating the faithful. In an era of viral outrage, clergy are to portray sin and forgiveness as part of God's salvific plan, not tabloid drama.
While these sources outline an ideal—grave yet merciful portrayal—real-world media depictions by clergy may vary, influenced by personal disposition or platform demands. The Catechism insists only authorized priests absolve, underscoring ordered ministry amid potential abuses. Doctrinal renewal for evangelization calls for communicating these truths to combat secular "tolerance" that excuses sin without conversion.
In summary, Catholic sources direct clergy to portray sin's seriousness tempered by inexhaustible mercy, administered sacramentally, while resisting media's scandal-mongering tendencies. This fosters conversion over condemnation, aligning with Christ's mission to save, not judge.