“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” the recent third installment in the Knives Out franchise, is a tender, timely and somewhat convoluted story that expertly employs director and writer Rian Johnson’s predictably precise mystery mechanics to craft a compelling narrative of faith, community, greed, and, of course, murder.

“Wake Up Dead Man” diverges from the series’ usual formula in that its arc primarily rests not on detective Benoit Blanc, as fans of the franchise are accustomed to, but on amateur-boxer-turned-pastor Jud Duplencity and his journey with faith, striking a more somber chord than previous Knives Out works. Though this choice lands well, largely due to the stellar performance of Josh O’Connor as Jud, the movie struggles with developing its ensemble characters, and suffers at times from overcomplicated plot elements.

“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” centers on Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor) a Catholic priest who is sent to serve as a pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude, a tight-knit parish in upstate New York, much to the chagrin of the church’s leader, Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). Wicks is an antagonistic, angry figure, and an obstacle to Jud’s eager mission of bringing others to Christ through love and understanding — where Wicks insists on being called Monsignor Wicks, the churchgoers refer to Jud simply as “Father Jud.”

As Wicks sows division amongst the parishioners, with the intention of fighting for conservative, traditionalist Catholicism by isolating and embittering his church, Jud attempts to combat this divisiveness through well-intentioned outreach, which only further irritates Wicks and eventually convinces Jud that the church cannot survive with Wicks at its head.

Visually, the setting lends itself to the cinematography beautifully, with the church’s stained glass windows and their light in particular often being utilized to create or highlight tonal shifts in certain scenes, such as one where the lighting changes to illuminate Jud as he details his journey within his faith. The church’s architecture serves as a meaningful, interesting backdrop for the story, similarly to the enormous glass onion building in “Glass Onion,” or the family home in “Knives Out.” “I think if you go back and rewatch it, the light coming in at certain moments and where things are placed in the church… [is] relevant [to the plot],” senior Leila Alam said.

After Jud has spent nine months at the parish, Wicks dies during a service in what seems to be an impossible “locked door” murder, and the first act of “Wake Up Dead Man” is over. It is then that Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) finally appears, arriving to assist town sheriff Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) with solving the crime, for which Jud is the prime (and in the eyes of many townspeople, the only) suspect. Blanc believes Jud is innocent, and that the murder was motivated not by his hatred of Wicks but by the church’s storied, long-disappeared fortune, which Wicks claimed to have found. He suspects a member of Wicks’ core group of churchgoers, all of whom have potential motives thanks to Wicks’ power over them. “You really don’t know who did it, especially at the beginning like it really could have been anyone,” senior Isabella Caban said.

In Johnson’s typical Knives Out fashion, the film sharply satirizes contemporary sociopolitical themes, this time taking aim at Christian nationalism and right-wing religious fanaticism through a colorful cast of characters, including Wicks’ “regulars”: Vera Draven (Kerry Washington), a local attorney who feels a sense of obligation to Wicks due to his close friendship with her late father, and who is by far the least enthusiastic participant in his cult of personality; Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack), Vera’s adopted son and an opportunistic aspiring GOP politician; Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), a washed-up author lashing out against “woke” and writing a book about Wicks; Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), a doctor devolving into alcoholism and the online alt-right after being left by his wife and children; and Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny), a former cellist pouring her savings into the church in desperate hope that Wicks, through god, will cure her chronic pain. Though less blatant than its predecessor “Glass Onion’s” anti-billionaire leanings, the movie’s satire is decidedly unsubtle, as is common for the series. However, “Wake Up Dead Man” subverts the more predictable, condescending anti-church angle, orienting much of the film around Jud’s idea of what the church should be about, and his relationship to faith and Christ.

In a scene partway through Blanc’s investigation, which Jud has joined in an effort to clear his name, Jud is speaking to a woman named Louise who can provide him with information crucial to solving the case, but is oblivious to the urgency of his questions. He becomes increasingly frustrated, until she reveals that her mother is dying, and asks him to pray for her. We see him transform, talking to the woman with compassion and reassuring leadership. He abandons the investigation and says he has remembered why he became a pastor in the first place. In an earlier scene, he reveals that he was led to Christ after killing a man in cold blood in the boxing ring, and says the church should be about “this,” with his arms spread wide and welcoming, “not this,” as he curls his hands into fists and puts them in front of him in a defensive guard. This battle between the effort of understanding and the muscle memory of anger, this journey of faith, is the true crux of the film, and it is an approach that works both because of Johnson’s sharp writing and because O’Connor’s portrayal of Jud is touchingly earnest.

The latter is amongst many fantastic actors in this movie — Brolin delivers an evocative performance as the ferocious, brutal Monsignor Wicks, and Glenn Close’s depiction of Martha Delacroix, the church’s staunchly loyal secretary, is strikingly sincere. However, the film’s unquestionably star-studded cast is underutilized in comparison to previous Knives Out installments, a flaw that is felt most in its lack of the signature ironic humor embodied within the first two movies. “What I did like [more] about the other two [Knives Out movies] though was that they kind of go more in-depth with all the characters, like show some of their [points] of view,” Alam said.

The strength of this, though, is to heighten the focus on Jud as the undeniable protagonist of the film, another slight departure from the franchise’s traditional assignment of Blanc as the anchor of its plots, accompanied by a character who serves as the emotional heart of the story. In fact, his role is relatively reduced in this installment, as Blanc isn’t introduced until the beginning of the film’s second act, where he begins investigating Wicks’ murder.

CAUTION: SPOILERS BELOW

After much investigation and several red herrings, including what appears to be Wicks rising from the dead and exiting his tomb, Blanc realizes that Martha is responsible for Wicks’ death, which she planned in order to foil his attempt at securing the fortune for his own greedy uses. In a surprising scene, Blanc forgoes his routine climactic, lecture-style reveal in order to allow her to confess to Jud and be forgiven for her sins. “I liked how [Blanc] knew what happened, but he stopped and let Martha confess it,” Alam said.

In a film so driven by conflicting interpretations of Christ and critique of the church, it is an ending that drives home Jud’s core tenets of forgiveness and understanding, and reaffirms the faith that he grapples with throughout the course of the movie. But, some of this emotional satisfaction is undercut by the complexity of Martha’s explanation of the case. “I just felt as though it wasn’t as satisfying to follow [as the other Knives Out films]. The framing and religious [element] was interesting but I just don’t think they executed it as well as they could have,” senior Mia Stubbins said.