Jack Ryan Star's New Horror Mystery Movie Was "One Of The Most Challenging Things" Ever

Published Aug 10, 2026, 10:25 PM EDT

Michael Kelly stars as Detective Morley, who is sent to investigate the disappearance of an inmate at a run-down facility. What initially appears to be a routine case becomes increasingly dangerous as he searches for answers and finds his understanding of reality challenged by the secrets surrounding the prison.

Directed by Will Wernick, Time of Death also stars Kevin Pollak, Dennis Haysbert, and Mena Suvari. The mystery thriller was released in select theaters and on PVOD on June 12, 2026. The story follows Frank as he searches for the truth. The deeper he goes into this dangerous world, the more his reality begins to fracture as the prison's buried secrets start coming to light.

Time Of Death Proved Uniquely Challenging To Kelly

He's Also In Awe Of His Rare Leading Man Turn

In an interview with ScreenRant's Liam Crowley, Kelly discusses the challenges of filming Time of Death and how rewarding it was. He found Time of Death to be one of the more demanding projects of his career, in large part because he had very little time to prepare before production began. The actor explained that he had only around a week after receiving the script before filming began.

Kelly explained how he typically likes to spend a longer period of time working through a character and committing the material to memory before arriving on set. With Time of Death, however, the tight schedule forced him to adjust his strategy. Despite the circumstances and change of pace, the process ultimately helped him become more immersed in the movie's unsettling world.

During production, Kelly stayed in an older hotel while filming primarily took place inside the prison. His routine quickly became almost entirely just traveling between the hotel and the set. After spending long days filming, he would return to his room and immediately begin memorizing his lines for the following day.

That repetitive schedule was eerily similar to aspects of his character's experience in the story. Being in such a tight-knit environment allowed Kelly to relate to the world the movie was set in. He explained that the experience was very intense and that he occasionally felt as though the demanding routine was affecting him psychologically in a way that reflected how Frank was feeling.

I would say it was one of the more challenging things I've ever taken on, simply because I didn't have a lot of prep time with the film and the script and everything. I think I had like a week or so before I even left for West Virginia to start work. And me personally, I like to work on things for a long time before I go because it takes me a while to get it all in my head. But it was an asset to me because when I did get there to West Virginia, and we stayed in this old hotel that had this sort of log cabin feel to it, and then you're only filming in that prison, it allowed me to fall into that world. I just went to work, busted my ass all day, went home and was memorizing again for the next day, constantly just trying to keep up. And inevitably, the only two places I went when I was there were the hotel and work, hotel and prison, back and forth and back and forth. So it lent itself to what was happening in the story, what was happening to this character. I felt like I was losing my mind doing it.

Sometimes your environment is so helpful. You're shooting environment obviously, but also where you're staying and the way you do that. And in this case, it was both were very helpful.

Kelly Didn't Pick Up On Inspirations For An Underrated Martin Scorsese Gem While Filming

It Even Starred "One Of My Favorite" People

Despite the similarities between Time of Death and other iconic films in its genre, such as Shutter Island, Kelly said the Martin Scorsese psychological thriller was not something that he had linked the movie to. However, he did understand why the connection could be made. He is a fan of Shutter Island and also loves Mark Ruffalo, who starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2010 movie.

Kelly stated that he wasn't really thinking about other projects while filming Time of Death. He approached the movie without trying to draw inspiration from an existing movie or character. His focus was on embracing the detective as a character who could stand on his own and the intense environment.

That's funny because I never thought, as soon as you said Shutter Island, because I love Ruffalo as one of my favorite persons and actors and I love that film. And when you said it, I instantly was like, "Oh yeah, sure. I get that." But no, going into it, I didn't. No, I kind of really went into it just open and blind to it all, wanting to create that insane world that Will put us in.