New Netflix ‘Knives Out’ explores faith themes, director Rian Johnson says

Oscar-nominated director Rian Johnson says his Christian upbringing inspired Netflix’s newest “Knives Out” thriller, revealing he set out to make “a movie about faith” that wrestles with belief, doubt and the role of the church in American life.

“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” now streaming, largely takes place over Easter weekend in a Catholic church in upstate New York. It follows detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) as he investigates a murder with the help of an idealistic priest, Father Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor).

According to RollingOut Magazine, both characters are forced at times in the film to “confront the limitations of their respective worldviews and reconsider their fundamental assumptions.”

Johnson told Netflix’s official fan site Tudum on Friday the film was “the hardest script he has ever had to write” because it was so personal.

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Though he is no longer religious, Johnson said he grew up in a Christian home, an experience that continues to influence him.

“I grew up very Christian,” Johnson said. “I’m not anymore, but when I was a teenager into my mid-twenties, I framed the world around me through the lens of my relationship with Christ. It was a very important part of my life, so I have a lot of complicated feelings about all of it.”

The film is packed with religious Easter eggs, Johnson said, including references to biblical figures and stories. It also shows religious characters from different perspectives.

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Father Jud, for example, exhibits “Christ-like” behavior, Johnson said, while the character Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) takes an “us-versus-them approach to faith.”

“I have strong feelings about faith: both my own personal experience and how it intersects with our country’s cultural and civic life, and the ways that intersection touches all of us differently,” Johnson explained. “So it felt like rich ground for a good story.”

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“Hollywood in Toto” podcast host Christian Toto said Johnson succeeds in maintaining a sense of balance.

The critic told Fox News Digital that, like the first “Knives Out” bridged the “political divide in ways we rarely see,” the newest film aims to do the same with religion.

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“The director’s complicated feelings on faith play out before our eyes,” he said. “Yes, the main character is a priest (Josh O’Connor) who sounds like the guy sitting next to you at the bar. Put his salty language aside. He’s still a kind, decent soul who understands how Christianity can save our souls. Yet the franchise’s heroic sleuth, Benoit Blanc, is an atheist and proud of it. Daniel Craig’s sleuth still treats religion with a certain level of respect, even though some of the characters in the Christian community prove less than noble. So does the film. It’s a far cry from faith-based storytelling, and some Christians may bristle at elements of the story.”

“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” was released in theaters over Thanksgiving weekend and arrived on Netflix on Friday.