I work the graveyard shift at a mid-range hotel near the airport. It’s a strange existence. I spend eight hours a night watching the automatic doors slide open for no one, listening to the hum of the vending machines, and observing people when they think no one is really paying attention. You learn a lot about human nature when you’re the only person awake in a building full of sleeping strangers. You learn that everyone has a secret, whether it’s the couple checking in without luggage at 2 AM or the businessman who paces the lobby muttering to himself. That’s probably why I’ve always been addicted to murder mysteries. They confirm what every night auditor suspects: that polite society is just a thin veneer over a whole lot of chaos.
Naturally, I’ve been counting down the days for the return of Benoit Blanc. The first two Knives Out movies were the perfect companions for my long, quiet shifts—puzzles that actually required you to pay attention. So, the second Wake Up Dead Man hit https://myflixer.one/, I brewed a fresh pot of terrible breakroom coffee, propped my tablet up behind the front desk, and settled in. I was expecting another colorful, romp-filled vacation like the Glass Onion trip. What I got instead was something colder, sharper, and significantly more twisted. Rian Johnson has traded the sunny Mediterranean for a freezing, gothic winter, and honestly? It fits my 3 AM mood perfectly.
A Funeral, A Murder, and A Lot of Guilt
If Knives Out was a cozy sweater and Glass Onion was a flashy bikini, Wake Up Dead Man is a heavy black trench coat. The vibe shifts immediately. We aren’t in a mansion or a tech island; we are in a grim little parish in Upstate New York (though movie magic makes it look seamless). The story revolves around the death of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, played with terrifying charisma by Josh Brolin. It’s a classic setup—a closed circle of suspects, a dead body, and a detective who talks like a southern gentleman struggling to swallow a molasses cookie.
But the tone is different. It’s spooky. There’s a real sense of dread that hangs over the whole film, which I appreciate. Working nights, you get used to the quiet being scary, and this movie weaponizes silence beautifully. Daniel Craig is back as Blanc, and he seems a little more weary this time, a little more haunted. His hair is longer, his patience is shorter, and he feels less like a caricature and more like a man who has seen too much death. He’s investigating a "suicide" that is obviously not a suicide, and the way he picks apart the religious hypocrisy of the suspects is delicious to watch.
The Rogues' Gallery
A mystery is only as good as its liars, and this cast is doing some heavy lifting. You’ve got Josh O'Connor playing a priest, Father Jud, who looks like he hasn't slept in a week (relatable). Then there’s Glenn Close, terrifyingly composed, and Jeremy Renner as a doctor who seems way too nervous about everything. It’s a pressure cooker. Everyone is trapped by the snow and their own sins.
What I loved is how the script plays with the idea of faith. In my line of work, people confess things to me all the time—mostly complaints about the Wi-Fi or their marriages—because I’m a stranger in a uniform. Here, the characters are confessing to priests and detectives, but everyone is lying. The dynamic between the "holy" setting and the very unholy actions of the characters is sharp. It’s cynical, sure, but it feels honest.
Building the Gothic Atmosphere
We have to talk about how this movie looks. It is gorgeous in a very bleak way. The production design team, including talents like Matthew Sharp and Nicholas White, has created a world that feels old and heavy. The church isn't just a set; it feels like a character that is judging everyone inside it. The wood looks dark and polished, the snow looks wet and miserable, and the shadows seem to stretch longer than they should.
There is a specific scene in the mausoleum that made me actually look over my shoulder at the empty hotel lobby. The lighting was so stark, so isolating. It’s rare for a "fun" murder mystery to actually be scary, but the crew nailed that gothic horror aesthetic. It’s not jump-scares; it’s just the creeping feeling that something is very, very wrong. It reminded me of those nights when the wind howls against the automatic doors and for a second, you think someone is trying to get in.
The Parishioners (Suspects & Stars)
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Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig): The detective. Longer hair, same accent, zero tolerance for nonsense.
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Monsignor Wicks (Josh Brolin): The victim (or is he?). A fire-and-brimstone type.
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Father Jud (Josh O'Connor): The young priest. Nervous energy for days.
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The Police Chief (Mila Kunis): A fun, grounded presence amidst the gothic drama.
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Dr. Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner): The anxious town doctor with shaky hands.
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Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close): The matriarch figure who knows where the bodies are buried.
The Puzzle Box
Rian Johnson loves to break the rules of a whodunit, and he does it again here. I won’t spoil the twist—there is nothing worse than a guest spoiling a movie for you while checking out—but I will say that the structure is unexpected. It’s not just "who did it"; it’s "is the person who died actually dead?" (Okay, maybe that’s a slight tease based on the title). The movie demands you pay attention to the timeline.
I found myself rewinding a few times, trying to catch the clues Blanc sees. It’s rewarding. Unlike some movies that pull a solution out of nowhere, everything you need to solve the case is right there on the screen, usually hidden in the background or in a throwaway line of dialogue. It respects your intelligence, which is a nice change of pace from explaining to a guest for the third time that, no, we do not have a pool.
Notes from the Night Shift (Trivia)
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Runtime: Takes about 2 hours and 25 minutes to watch—perfect for the lull between the bar closing and the breakfast crew arriving.
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Filming: Shot in the UK, doubling for Upstate New York.
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Title: Inspired by a U2 song, continuing the tradition of music-based titles.
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Genre Shift: Described by the cast as having "Scooby-Doo" horror elements.
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Release: Hit theaters briefly in November 2025 before landing online.
Final Verdict: Worth the Graveyard Shift
Wake Up Dead Man is a triumph. It’s moody, it’s clever, and it features Daniel Craig having the time of his life. It manages to be funny without undercutting the stakes, and scary without losing the fun. As the sun started to come up over the parking lot and my shift ended, I felt that satisfying click of a puzzle solved.
If you like your mysteries with a side of guilt and snow, this is for you. It’s the perfect movie to stream on Myflixer when you have a few hours to kill and want to escape into a world where the only thing colder than the weather is the human heart. Just maybe don't watch it alone in a big, empty building like I did. It makes the shadows look a little too suspicious.