As the nights draw in, Rian Johnson has devised the perfect autumnal treat, a rich and satisfying whodunnit that’s the sharpest Knives Out yet. Josh O’Connor plays idealistic priest and ex-boxer Father Jud Duplenticy (‘young, dumb and full of Christ’ as he puts it himself), sent to the seemingly sleepy parish of Chimney Rock after an altercation with a colleague, only to find the place swarming with backstabbers.

Jud is there to assist Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin, harnessing every ounce of his thespian power), a real monster of a man who rules his flock with the fear and condemnation of a cult leader. The parishioners include lawyer Vera (Kerry Washington) and her adopted political influencer son Cy (Daryl McCormack), Jeremy Renner’s troubled doctor Nat, and Andrew Scott’s paranoid sci-fi author Lee. Glenn Close also features as Wicks’ right-hand woman Martha. When the Monsignor is slain in brutal, baffling fashion, everyone is a suspect, with master detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) attracted like a magnet to this irresistible mystery, and taking Jud under his wing.

Channelling classics of the locked-room sub-genre (most pertinently John Dickson Carr’s The Hollow Man), Wake Up Dead Man is as knowing as you’d expect but with Johnson keeping things classy. The film’s elegantly earthy aesthetic riffs fruitfully on its woodland setting, and the cast are exceptional. Craig has Blanc’s genial genius down to an art (long may his involvement in this thriving franchise continue). And it may feel like he is already, but Josh O’Connor really should be in everything.

However, it’s Johnson’s sparkling and erudite script that deserves the real kudos; if things remain as witty and tricksy as ever, there’s sincerity here too. O’Connor’s soul-searching priest is such a compelling protagonist that Blanc becomes a sideshow (albeit a very entertaining one), as Johnson sifts through the disbelief, cynicism and MAGA-esque exploitation to ponder the true value of religion.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is shown at BFI London Film Festival, Thursday 9, Sunday 19 October; in selected cinemas from Friday 28 November and on Netflix from Friday 12 December.