What is more powerful than fear? Faith. The belief in something greater, perhaps even within ourselves. Wake Up Dead Man isn’t a movie about religion. It’s a movie about belief and the terrifying, deeply human need to believe in something, even when God is absent.
The film makes it clear that faith does not have to be religious to be powerful. Faith, here, is something broader and more intimate. The belief that truth matters, that actions have consequences, and that there is meaning beyond ego. It’s the invisible force that separates humanity from monstrosity.Â
Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), is what happens when faith and belief morph into self-worship. Wicks doesn’t reject God, he replaces Him. His faith isn’t in divinity or community, but in himself. His god complex turns the church into a possession, not a place of belief. It belongs to his authority, not to the people, not to faith, and certainly not to God.
He does not lack faith; he has too much of it, all placed in himself. His god complex leaves no room for doubt, humility, or community, the very elements that make belief human rather than tyrannical.Â
The film draws a sharp distinction between faith and control. Faith requires surrender and acceptance that there are forces larger than ourselves. Wicks refuses to surrender. In positioning himself as the ultimate moral authority, he strips belief of its purpose and turns it into a weapon. His certainty is not strength; it is a refusal to reckon with his own humanity.
This contrast becomes clearer when we look at the characters who orbit Wicks, each representing a different relationship to religion. Where Wicks clings to certainty, others are defined by doubt, guilt, sadness, and moral compromise, making them more human.
Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), exists as the film’s quiet counterweight. He is not driven by religious faith, nor does he claim moral authority over anyone else. Instead, Blanc believes in truth itself. He believes in the good heartedness of Pastor Judd (Josh O’Connor). His faith lies in the idea that truth, no matter how uncomfortable, must be uncovered. Unlike Wicks, Blanc does not impose meaning onto the world, he listens, observes, and waits. His doubt is not weakness, it is discipline. In Wake Up Dead Man, the characters’ willingness to question the world around them becomes the purest form of faith.
This is where Jefferson Wicks ultimately fails. He does not want to belong to something greater or see things outside of his own scope of view; he wants everything to belong to him. While other characters wrestle with guilt and contradiction, Wicks remains untouched by doubt. His unwavering certainty isolates him, transforming faith into domination. The church, once a space for collective belief, becomes, under his control, a symbol of ownership rather than meaning.
By the film’s end, Wake Up Dead Man makes a quiet but devastating claim: belief is unavoidable. Everyone places their faith somewhere, whether in God, in truth, in other people, or in themselves. What defines our humanity is not what we believe, but whether our belief allows room for humility, accountability, and connection.Â
And in showing us that, the film suggests that faith, when stripped of ego, may be the most human thing we have.