★★★
The peaceful town of Centerville finds itself battling a zombie horde as the dead start rising from their graves.
Classification: 15
A film most peculiar, Jim Jarmusch's The Dead Don't Die is a zombie tale that uses its undead tormentors as a vehicle for deadpan humour and existential reflection in a cinematic experience that is more confounding than enthralling. Boasting an all-star cast, the film has a varied number of viewpoints each showcasing a small part of how mundane existence of the citizens of Centerville is disrupted by the sudden arrival of zombies. Jarmusch's reasonings for the appearance and reactions for the zombie apocalypse are quite genius and are somewhat refreshing in the stagnant genre; fracking of the polar icecaps from government-backed corporations have caused the earth to shift off its access and create a series of strange occurrences across the planet.
The origin of the disaster and the character's reactions to it feeds into The Dead Don't Die's most interesting thematic arc; our seeming indifference to armageddon. News and radio reports of exposition can be seen and heard at various points of the film and when the characters put the pieces together it's already too late and as Adam Driver's character continuously states "this is gonna end badly". Jarmusch doesn't give the characters any of the traditional urgency or panic to be expected from the zombie apocalypse or the period of disbelief that the dead could be rising; very early on the characters conclude it is zombies and begin to prepare but with the same attitude as if it was a wild animal and not a hoard of the undead. The aloof reaction not only from Bill Murray and Adam Driver but also from the majority of the cast creates the film's great little moments of comedy as each archetype comes to terms with the coming terror with very little urgency or in some cases are completely unaware. Our modern society's indifference to a number of issues is parodied in the script as comparisons to climate change are clear and how helpless we truly are against the undoing we have created for ourselves.
Adam Driver's performance as Ronald Peterson is one of The Dead Don't Die's best components as his dry wit and calm rationale to the horror makes the bizarre storytelling more palpable. Driver along with Murray have a fine chemistry with their riffing taking the film to unexpected places and surprising reveals. The whole ensemble does well no matter how minor the role, with Jarmusch playing with our expectations and grounding the thematic nihilism with the grisly fates of these seemingly innocent people. Chloë Sevigny is probably the most realistic performance as her genuine terror and confusion of the events gives the film much needed dramatic grounding. As Driver sees the zombies as nothing more than creatures to be killed, Sevigny still recognises the humanity they represented. Its the star power that makes you think that perhaps the film won't end up like Driver's dire prophecy and is perhaps building to something more triumphant as Danny Glover, Steve Buscemi, Selena Gomez occupy traditional horror film tropes. The most outlandish performance belongs to Tilda Swinton whose role in the story will leave its audience absolutely baffled. As thrilling as it can be to see Swinton decapitate zombies with a katana, the character's overall presence in the film detracts from the more interesting elements Jarmusch has at play.
The Dead Don't Die has such a strange cinematic language to it, from recurring auditory references to Sturgill Simpson, fourth-wall-breaking, and Tom Waits watching the film play out as a hermit greek chorus. It's almost like because of the events leading to the zombie apocalypse that their reality has been partially disconnected leading to the more offbeat portions of the film. Just when you think you have the film nailed, Jarmusch hits you with another curveball that will have you reassessing everything you thought about the film. Jarmusch's direction is likely to be more off-putting for audiences as it doesn't follow conventional horror or comedy methodology which will probably make it more appealing to others. It's a curious little film that has some interesting things to say when Jarmusch doesn't let the madness take over the narrative.
Director: #JimJarmusch
Cast: #BillMurray, #AdamDriver, #TildaSwinton, #ChloëSevigny, #SteveBuscemi, #AustinButler, #DannyGlover, #CalebLandryJones, #RosiePerez, #IggyPop, #SaraDriver, #RZA, #CarolKane, #SelenaGomez, #TomWaits
Release Date: July 12th 2019
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database
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