January/February 2026 [26-1]
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, God's Own Country, True Detective: S1, The Rip
- Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery [2025] - 78
Coming three years after the absolute drivel that was Glass Onion, Wake Up Dead Man sees us investigating the mysterious death of a priest in an out-of-the-way parish, and [most] everyone has a reason to have done the strange deed. If you liked either of the other Knives Out films, you’re going to love this one. While I can’t say for certain exactly how it compares to the first [I haven’t seen it since it was new, but I remember liking it], I can tell you that it solidifies all of my criticisms about its direct predecessor by having a mystery that is fun, solvable, and clever, rather than a series of idiotic “gotchas” disguised as sleuthing. Featuring some excellent cinematography and engaging editing, Wake Up Dead Man puts the always fabulous Daniel Craig front and center as he does his best Foghorn Leghorn impression, and showcases an impressive Josh O’Connor, who leads the show with a shockingly emotive and moving performance. A performance that… also leads me to my most personal critique. Wake Up Dead Man features moments of truly moving drama that make me wish the whole thing wasn’t wrapped up within a comedy-flavored murder-mystery. These moments are so strong and insightful that it makes me want Johnson to write a true drama, rather than almost pathologizing his own depth by including them within this world. Shocking that this came from the same guy who wrote The Last Jedi.
- God’s Own Country [2017] - 68
The directorial debut of Francis Lee [who went on to make 2020’s Ammonite], God’s Own Country is a film best viewed without any attempt at comparison. Were one to watch it without that styling, one could be forgiven for finding it a bit bland in the face of things like Brokeback Mountain, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, or even something like Great Freedom. This isn’t to say that all queer romances have to be compared against one another, but it is to say that God’s Own Country neither sets itself apart from the flock narratively, nor handles its basic romance in a strong enough way to leave any sort of lasting impression. It’s totally “fine” — there aren’t any glaring issues or holes or contrivances —, but “fine” doesn’t really cut it when it comes to things I want to watch or recommend. The most notable feature of God’s Own Country is that I accidentally watched two movies starring Josh O’Connor back to back… Other than that, if you want something truly memorable, go watch one of the films I mentioned above.
- True Detective: S1 [2014] - 84
Critical darling, True Detective, has been hovering in and around my watchlist pretty much since it came out. Being a show, I found it difficult to get to the table… And then season 2 happened and apparently everybody hated it, so I just sorta lost track of the whole thing for a while. At the recommendation of a friend though, I finally got myself in gear and tossed it on. It’s uh… It’s real good. While I think the show is hugely carried by both its leads’ performances and its very clever narrative structure, the mystery it presents and the cast of characters you meet along the way are engaging and interesting enough too. I do wish it had been a little more patient and slowed down the final conflict [probably just needing a single extra episode], but the storytelling and cleverness of style is enough to buoy that want into a very mild territory. I’m curious how the rest of the seasons stand up to the first, because I’m not totally sold that simply telling another mystery using the same narrative structure will keep it fresh enough to matter… But I guess there’s only one way to find out.
- The Rip [2026] - 35
On the topic of narrative structures [or lack thereof], mysteries [as in, “it’s a mystery this is getting positive reviews”], and “everybody hated it” [at least they should hate it]… I don’t know what illiterate clown read the screenplay for The Rip and decided that it should receive whatever insane amount of money Netflix poured into it. This movie is The Usual Suspects meets The Expendables in whatever the laziest and stupidest way you could imagine that combination of films going together is. I can understand that there’s an audience for this kind of thing, and I know that they’re going to really love it… But can we not just make better movies than this? Even 2024’s Rebel Ridge [my #116 of 2025] had more substance and cerebral function than this, and my #30 of last year, Sicario, has been around since 2015… So, what are we doing here?
