
Plot: The peaceful town of Centerville finds itself battling a zombie horde as the dead start rising from their graves – The Dead Don’t Die
Director – Jim Jarmusch
Starring: Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tom Waits, Chloe Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Tilda Swinton, Selena Gomez
Released: July 2019
It’s taken me a while to figure out my thoughts on this film and actually figure out if I liked it or not, even now my feeling towards The Dead Don’t Die are fluid and I might come back and change the review.
The basic plot is a simple one; a small town is overrun with the dead due to polar fracking, but don’t go into the film thinking it’s going to be a zombie comedy along the lines of Shaun of the Dead but American because the tone of The Dead Don’t Die is completely different.

Firstly the film is a very slow burn, with the editing and plot development being very art-house in places, to the point where you can be forgiven for finding the movie a little boring.
A lot of the first half of the movie is also spent introducing you to the huge cast of characters, not all of which really deserved introduction given how little screen time they received, whilst attempting to set up the events leading to the outbreak such as the sun remaining out long after is should have set or the numerous news reports go into polar fracking that has nudged the Earth on its axis.

The film was sold on its comedy, but this is a dark-comedy in every possible way so don’t go in expecting to expect laugh-out-loud much during the movie, instead it’s best to expect clever and amusing situations coupled with self-referential lines and breaking of the fourth wall which Adam Driver’s character does on at least a couple of times. Apart from that, most of the comedy is bizarre and quirky that feels closer to a parody or a B-Movie ripoff.
If this is what the director was going for then the film does a good job of poking fun of those B-movies of the ’80s and ’90s, but this doesn’t excuse the film from being bad. For example, entire plotlines are seemingly dropped halfway through the film, almost as if they ran out of ideas or the budget to complete the storylines, but they can’t afford to lose what they’ve already filmed.
Not only is this not funny, but it also doesn’t add anything to the film and can be quite frustrating to watch, Selena Gomez and her friends are some of those additions to the plot that you wonder what the point was to include them apart from to have the car from Night of the Living Dead feature in the film.

Now it might sound as though I hated the film but I find aspects of the film to enjoy, including the Deadpan humour that runs throughout and is amusing in parts, Tilda Swinton’s odd character and the bizarre twist was a personal highlight, while Steve Buscemi and Tom Waits were both great in their minor roles, plus the zombies walking around saying “Xanax” “Chardonnay” or “Wi-fi” instead of the usual “Brains”.
I fully admit that this movie isn’t for everyone, after all, it’s a strange and slow combination of unfocussed, weird and quirky situations with a messy plot running through the middle of it, but it does have its own bizarre charm, I didn’t love it, but it was a good enough to pass the time one Sunday evening.
If you liked – Ghost Stories, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
I love this movie. A lot. Most of my friends didn’t feel as great about it as I did, but I loved the B-movie vibe. It was bad in the best way possible
This is not really my kind of movie, but if Bill Murrey is one of the characters… then maybe I should try it 🙂
Bill Murry is worth going to see. I don’t mean to swoon over him, but the guy is a comic genius. I’ve like him since Saturday Night Live.
I haven’t heard of this one before but there are so many great actors in it! Can’t wait to see it.
I love Jim Jarmusch’s movies. Going to check it out this weekend with some of my movie buff friends.
Thanks for the introduction and review of this movie. I have yet to hear about it but it seems to have some great actors.
this is not the typical movie i’d watch. but i must say having bill murray as lead definitely gets my attention. that man is a genius of actors.
It’s certainly got an all star cast, that’s for sure. I like Selena Gomez.
Wow good selection! I gotta watch this soon!
Oh that’s interesting and thanks a lot for the review and introduction. Didn’t aware of this movie and now I have something new to see this weekend! – Knycx Journeying
Aaahhh…I think I am going to love this one! It’s my first time hearing of it but I love what I hear already.
This is not my kind of genre but my hubby would definitely enjoy this movie. Those who are at home because of the current situation can watch it rather being bored at home.
This is not my kind of genre but my hubby would definitely enjoy this movie. Those who are at home because of the current situation can watch it rather being bored at home.
hm I have never heard about this movie, but now I have to watch it, thanks
I’ve heard of this before because of Adam Driver but haven’t seen the movie yet. Kinda forgot about it but now that I remembered, I’ll definitely check this out sometime.