2025 whodunnit, dir. Rian Johnson, Daniel Craig, Josh O'Connor:
IMDb. We'll need an old
priest and a young priest…
Indeed, I think the part of this I enjoyed most was the first
act, which is largely free of the murder mystery trappings and
introduces an entirely different sort of story, the young and
enthusiastic priest who doesn't knuckle under easily sent to find out
what's going on at a shrinking parish with an old priest who has
strong opinions. But sadly this makes it clear that we're in Cinematic
Catholicism (indeed, Johnson admitted that he shifted the religious
setting from his own past in American Evangelicalism because the
aesthetics were so much better), because Catholicism actually is a
hierarchy and has formal channels of control in a way that
Evangelicalism doesn't. (Not to say they always work, but there is no
need to send in a young priest with a secret mission.)
But while O'Connor and Josh Brolin can be good to watch (Brolin very
much channelling Jeff Bridges as The Dude, as later is Thomas Haden
Church), the real star is Glenn Close. She sinks into the complex role
apparently without effort, showing these young people how it should be
done. Are there perhaps fewer Big Names than in the first two films?
Certainly I didn't immediately recognise as many actors, but of late
I've mostly been watching older films anyway.
There's a good technical mystery here, though I have less appreciation
of John Dickson Carr than perhaps I "should" as a mystery fan: as I've
said before, I like my mysteries to be both technical and personal,
and for me Carr falls down on the personal. Actual evidence is in
short supply, and one key element feels like a very last-minute
improvisation (jubz qvq gurl guvax gurl jrer vzcyvpngvat jvgu gur
qrivy'f urnq?).
This feels like a series entry. A good one, but not an exceptional
one. Perhaps it's just that I miss the excellent energy of Janelle
Monaë from Glass Onion.
I talk about this film further on
Ribbon of Memes.