The Dead Don't Die Review

The new Jim Jarmusch film The Dead Don’t Die never attempts to create something new for the long-oversaturated zombie genre, in fact, the film rarely attempts to accomplish anything at all. Much of what drives The Dead Don’t Die are jokes that don’t have punchlines coupled with a completely incohesive collection of subplots. There are charming moments within Jarmusch’s self aware and stylistically schlocky creative decisions, but they never last, resulting in an often-frustrating film that squanders many members of its cast.

The Dead Don’t Die is writer/director Jim Jarmusch’s widest release of his career and has gained attention for the depth of talent involved. Unfortunately, the cast consisting of notable names like Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Selena Gomez and Tom Waits often fall victim to Jarmusch’s lack of clever material. Random events and odd pacing keeps the film unpredictable, yet it doesn’t take long for the humour to fall into uniformity. The film hopes to consistently find comedy in awkwardly long silences or painfully meta references that are so uninspired that it feels as if Jarmusch began to truly embrace his own blatant laziness to dialogue.

The Dead Don’t Die takes place in Centerville, a quiet and unassuming town where everybody knows everybody. Although some of the characters of Centreville can be strange, the events that begin to happen become much stranger. Animals begin acting unusual while the hours of daylight become unpredictable. However, no citizen is prepared for the danger that eventually rises: the dead.

Many elements of the film feel recycled and dated, leading to a lack of consistent intrigue and deaths that have little comedic or horrific payoff. Many scenes hang on characters that are terribly underwritten, their deadpan reactions to everything becomes stale very quickly. Jarmusch tries to get away with a lot of this by purposely displaying a blatant self awareness, though it is never very effective and often comes off as pretentious.

The Dead Don’t Die isn’t a complete failure though, the comedic deliveries from Bill Murray, Adam Driver and Tilda Swinton were consistent standouts in an otherwise underwhelming collection of performances. Jarmusch also succeeds in his world building, devoting much of the films first act creating a town and community that feels wholesome and unique.

Ultimately, The Dead Don’t Die is a film that has its moments but never truly harnesses the potential of its cast. Instead favouring obvious jokes and misfortunes that eventually feel more directed at the audience.

The periodic charm of The Dead Don’t Die is never enough to forgive the film for its narrative laziness and inconsistent humour.

Produced By: Focus Features
Runtime: 103 minutes
Rating: R