The Minute You Wake Up Dead

The Minute You Wake Up Dead is a 2022 American noir thriller film directed by Michael Mailer and starring Cole Hauser, Morgan Freeman and Jaimie Alexander.

Plot
Stockbroker Russ has recently returned to his childhood home, Bare Hollow, Mississippi. Residents have made money from his stock advice, but his latest advice regarding a merger deal does not come through, costing many their savings.

He is renting the house next door to local waitress Delaine, who he had a crush on in high school. They start a sexual relationship.

Local petty criminal Lucius murders Delaine's father, who is battling cancer. Despite her feigned sadness, Delaine has deceived Lucius into a sexual relationship, and had him kill her father for the $550,000 life insurance settlement.

Sheriff Fowler's investigation quickly leads him to Lucius, so Delaine kills her hapless lover – her second murder. Lucius had planned to use his share of the money to pay off local loan shark Jody, and told Jody everything about the murder after his thug Mace cuts off his toe. When Lucius dies, Jody informs Delaine that she must pay Lucius' debt.

Lucius' body goes missing, and Delaine later finds that Russ has it. He reveals that he overheard Delaine and Russ discussing their crime, and he hid Lucius so that he could protect her from getting caught, and thus become her new equal partner in the insurance settlement. He also reveals that he has killed Fowler for getting too close to solving the original murder. She tells Russ that her father was in pain awaiting his death from stage four cancer, but knew that suicide nullifies his insurance, so he and Delaine staged his murder to swindle the insurance company.

Delaine kills Russ, her third murder, and throws his and Lucius' bodies in the swamp. When they are found the next day, Deputy Sheriff Kane accuses Delaine of being involved, and says he will find the proof. Minutes later Pernie, the secretary for Russ, tells Delaine that Russ told her everything, and demands she now become an equal partner in the insurance fraud. Jody and his thug Mace are still bothering Delaine for the debt Lucius owes, so she arranges for Pernie to murder them both that night, and Delaine murders Pernie the next morning, bringing the death toll to seven in her insurance fraud scheme.

Later that morning, Kane arrests Delaine, and is shocked when she confesses everything – against his original Miranda warning and his follow up suggestion that she shut up – confirming the intelligence of a fraudster mass-murdering waitress in Bare Hollow, Mississippi.

Production
In February 2022, Cole Hauser, Morgan Freeman and Jaimie Alexander were confirmed as starring in the film.

Filming began in Mississippi in February 2022.

In May 2022, it was announced that Grindstone Entertainment would be distributing the film in North America.

Release
The film was released in theaters, on demand and digital platforms on November 4, 2022 and was released on DVD and Blu-ray December 13, 2022.

Critical response
Lukas Spathis of Voices from the Balcony gave the movie its least negative review, at one and a half stars out of 5, detailing that "The Minute You Wake up Dead is a weak movie that descends into being a bad one thanks to its insistence on using every trope."

Box office
Primarily a direct-to-video release, The Minute You Wake Up Dead had a very limited theatrical release, grossing $35,162 at the box office.