WFG RATING: A

A Jack Wickliffe Films production in association with Cathy Cuevas Films. Written and directed by Jack Wickliffe. Produced by Jack Wickliffe, Cathy Cuevas, and Yasmine Harrell. Cinematography by Zach Melendez. Edited by Jack Wickliffe, Cathy Cuevas, and Zach Melendez.

Stars Colby Range, Yasmine Harrell, Jorge Valero, and Gianna Arianas.

The night clerk of a hotel experiences something strange in this short film from Jack Wickliffe.

Julian is the night clerk for a local hotel. He comes in late, and his supervisor isn’t too thrilled about it but gives him the benefit of the doubt. As she leaves, things are quiet at first. However, a young woman walks up to him, and she has lost her key and has forgotten her ID. At first reluctant to break policy, he does it as he clearly sees she may need help. When he gets a strange phone call from her room, he checks it out only for the girl, Helena, to tell him everything is fine.  Soon enough, Julian discovers more about things and wonders if everything was in his head or is something more at stake.

This short film from Jack Wickliffe is one that has quite a story as good behind the scenes as it does on the screen. Wickliffe, shot the film at his job, located in Boca Raton with the support of his supervisors. Over the course of a few months, he would take his time between work and shooting and altogether, comes up with a really good film that is somewhat of a mystery for the night clerk of the hotel.

Colby Range is really good as Julian, the night clerk who finds himself all by himself at the desk as there is a skeleton crew with him and his supervisor, played with sassiness by Gianna Arianas. It is when he is in the middle of his shift, he sees the mysterious Helena Rose, played with a sense of trepidation by Yasmine Harrell (who also serves as a producer). From her appearance, Harrell does a great job at playing a character who clearly is crying for help while Jorge Valero gives off some creepy vibes as a mysterious man who shows up in the hallway and even gives Julian the heebie-jeebies. However, that’s nothing compared to the final eight minutes of the film.

What Happens After Midnight is actually a pretty good example of hard work on the part of the filmmaker, who succeeds in making a very creepy short about what may happen if there is only one person working a night shift at a hotel.

Special Thanks to Jack Wickliffe for allowing me to check out the short film.