In the first episode of 2026, we are diving into Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery to explore what it reveals about faith, leadership, hypocrisy, presence, and how competing visions of Christianity shape real people and communities.
In this episode of The Subtext, we dive beneath the mystery of Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery to explore what the film exposes about faith, church culture, power, and human nature. Through the contrast of Father Jud’s vision for self-giving love and Monsignor Wicks’ manipulative, rage-driven religiosity, we unpack themes of projection and hypocrisy, insecure versus secure spiritual leadership, and how love shows up through presence. We also read critiques that the film presents two “toothless” versions of Christianity and ask what the story ultimately suggests about God, church, and culture wars.
Things we mentioned in this episode:
The Gospel Coalition "2 Corrupted Christianities in ‘Wake Up Dead Man’"
The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse by David Johnson and Jeff VanVonderen
Holy Hurt: Understanding Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing by Hillary L. McBride
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