‘Young, dumb and full of Christ’ is how the central character Father Jud describes himself to sleuth Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) in this third outing for the murder-mystery franchise Knives Out. If you were wondering if you can plough your way through a story that is religion heavy without losing the will to live, I can confirm that yes you can. For Rian Johnson presents us with a rollicking rollercoaster of a whodunit with a stellar cast and a sharp script that could well be in the frame for an Oscar (let’s hope he wins it this time).

This is the most developed of Johnsons’ murder mystery scripts and the darkest and funniest of the three films. Johnson has cited Edgar Allen Poe as inspiration for this film, so it’s no surprise that this story is much closer to horror than the previous films.

We are introduced to Father Jud (it’s no accident this is a shortening of Judas), who Johnson playfully calls Father Duplencity, (way too close to duplicity and that’s no accident either) when he smacks a fellow priest in the face at his seminary. It seems, despite his priestly calling, Jud still can’t keep his rage under control (in his earlier life as a boxer he murdered a man dead in the ring). His Bishop, (played with finesse by Jeffrey Wright) takes pity on him.  Instead of being defrocked, Jud is sent to what should be a sleepy small town in upstate New York. He is to assist the notoriously difficult Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), a truly evil man of the cloth who holds his small congregation in thrall. 

But this is no sleepy town and murder is afoot. Johnson cleverly uses Jud’s letter to sleuth Benoit Blanc to unveil events leading up to the grisly, seemingly impossible murder of Wicks, treating us to a cavalcade of weird and wonderful characters who make up the congregation under Wicks’ spell.

Not until 45 minutes in are we made aware that Jud will play Watson to Blancs’ Sherlock Holmes and boy are we in for a treat. Josh O’Conner in the pivotal role of Jud treats us to a stunning, sensitive portrayal of a man on the cusp of religious despair, the perfect foil for Blancs’ sarcastic sceptic who gleefully describes himself as a heretic. As Wicks’ adherents do all they can to lay the blame for murder at Jud’s door, we see Benoit’s softer side as he strives to protect Jud and prove his innocence. Blanc is not the hardboiled detective he might have us believe.

Johnsons’ world is rife with religious allusion with Marta (Glenn Close) and her service to the church echoing her biblical alter ego. Similarly, Steve Yedlins’ cracking cinematography treats us to beautifully executed religious tropes like ironic shafts of light heralding Wick’s entrance.

Despite this dark portrayal of a congregation in crisis we never forget this is a clever murder mystery as we are deftly manipulated with jump scares and glaringly obvious clues that are of course meant to trick us, right up until the big reveal we eagerly await from Benoit Blanc. Even in the final analysis, Johnson toys with us like a cat with its prey as he plays his final trump card and like most murder mysteries we are treated to a tremendous plot twist that no one saw coming.