The Dead Don't Die

Set in a real nice place, a small American town is noticing strange going-ons with the daylight hours being somewhat out of synch with the time of day. The TV says that the Earth has been knocked off its axis. This causes lots of issues, one of which brings the dead back to life. A small American town, and its deadpan residents, try to survive the carnage around them.

Jim Jarmusch is an indie darling. His films are a major symbol of the independent film movement with their deadpan, absurdist humour. It’s this reason I was slightly trepidations as he ventured into my favourite genre (for a second time) with a zombie movie. The reason for this was I feared, like many directors (who snottily say their movie “is more than just a horror movie”), he would see himself above the horror genre and perhaps not get why the genre, particularly the horror-comedy genre, clicks.

To an extent some of my fears were justified. Whilst not being dismissive of the genre The Dead Don’t Die doesn’t seem like a film written by someone very well versed with direction the genre is going in and how it has changed from the days of George A. Romero. It’s true that there are many nods to horror movies throughout, but they’re very much the most famous films of the genre (such as Lucio Fulci’s Zombie Flesh Eaters and the works of George A. Romero).

It just seems like Jarmush hasn’t watched a zombie film for about 40 years. This was when the themes of consumerism (among others) were the focus points of many zombie flicks as the braindead zombie gravitated to the largest shopping centre (as so happened in Dawn of the Dead). In Jarmusch’s film they gravitate to what most motivated them in life, be it baseball, coffee or chardonnay. His little spin on the theme is enjoyable but having a teenage zombie groan “wiiiifiiiiii” feels as though Jarmusch is satirising the easiest possible targets in a way that’s reminiscent of the most close-minded people of his generation who balk at the sight of a moody teen looking at their phone.

The film feels massively out of touch because he’s somewhat ignorant of the move away from the lore established by Romero. He could have been trying to bring that back, but his modernising of similar themes as Dawn of the Dead feel lazy and inspired. Still, I liked the crazy cast of characters. Adam Driver’s fine performance is one of the film’s highlights as he has a good rapport with Bill Murray. I could have done without Tilda Swinton. She’s bloody annoying in this and her fate reminds me of the worst crime committed by the Indiana Jones franchise. The fourth wall breaks didn’t add much for me either. It’s a film saved by the cast, particularly Murray and Driver.

The film’s promising start, consistent pace and great performances (Swinton aside) make this a mostly enjoyable, deadpan zombie flick.

 

3/5