The Dead Don't Die

Such a quirky little ditty, but not for everyone mind you. Brimming with irony, stilted yet hammed up dialogue and the usual casting choices you would come to expect from Jarmusch.

This is a comical, almost parody-like Zombie film with a social commentary that comes more apparent further into the runtime. Quite liked it and found it quite humorous, but I am a fan of Jarmusch's previous work and much of the cast.

I hate this movie. I saw it for free and still want my money back. It is an absolutely pointless, meandering vanity project that attempts to trick you into thinking it's cleverer than it is. According to the director himself, it was designed to be a dumb movie comprised of dumb bits as a way to make money hanging out with his friends. And what's worse is that the trailer tricks you into thinking it is an entirely different movie - the worst kind of lie you can tell in an effort to lure people away from their hard-earned money and precious time.

There is literally no point to anything that happens; Jarmusch has no sense of pace or urgency or meaning. And in my opinion, art for the sake of itself alone is condescending towards your audience. I normally like his work, along with all of the actors, the subject matter and tone - this should have been right in my wheelhouse. But I left feeling like the director had a contemptuous view of the people watching his film (in EVERY regard) and that just doesn't sit well with me. Not everything has to matter in a movie, but SOMETHING should.

Ultimately, it felt like a third-rate SNL skit that was allowed to drag on for two hours.

In Centerville, the undead rise when there is a shift in the axis of rotation of Earth. "The Dead Don't Die" is the slow development of this storyline following several dwellers of this town. Films by Jim Jarmusch are usually cult and slow paced. His navigation through the zombie genre is an uneven film, with at least a good surprise like the flying saucer scene and many boring and unfunny moments. The cast composed by many veteran actors and actresses is a plus but the final result is neither cult nor worthwhile spending 1h 44 min watching. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Os Mortos Não Morrem" ("The Dead Don't Die")

All the ingredients to produce a masterpiece are present: 1) A director I love, Jim Jarmusch, due to the excellent Paterson (2016) and Broken Flowers (2005). 2) A to-die-for cast, with Bill Murray in particular. 3) A sens of humor that regularly flirts with the absurd, including wacky and irreverent dialogues like « a black coffee please, but not too black » for instance. 4) The mesmerizing voice of Tom Waits. 5) A slight criticism of our society, especially the progressive global warming because of a strong procrastination with regard to the respect of our environment, and, albeit to a lesser extent, consumerism. 6) Zombies! I may confess that I have a crush on zombies. 7) ...

So, all the ingredients are lumped together but, it's quite strange and even weird, the recipe is rather unsuccessful: the atmosphere is sometimes cutesy or even insipid, the characters are usually devoid of enthusiasm and quite often apathetic, and the final scene rhymes with bitterness and bewilderment.

Although the film is not completely lousy thanks to a few successful scenes, I was globally bored and disappointed. In my humble opinion, this movie is a non-event and, as an echo with itself, should be buried alive, from now on until the end of the world. And even longer!

If you read that Jim Jarmusch made a new movie and you read the list of involved actors/musicians the expectation of course just explodes. And if you like zombie movies with comedy elements your expectations hit the Milky Way. Sadly, The Dead Don't Die just don't delivers. Compared with other zombie comedies of high rank, most of the comical or fun moments of The Dead Don't Die just don't work too good. The horror elements are also just rather mediocre and just feel like necessary additions because of the genre. So what's left!? Some reviewers say that there is some references to other movies or the movie business to detect, and/or there is some commentaries on our today's society. That all may be right, but mostly the movie is just very slow and won't satisfy neither the horror nor the comedy audience. On top, even as an arthouse or artsy whatever movie The Dead Don't Dies is rather a weak endeavor. Of course, the actors are not bad and still there is here and there a little shiny moment. My rate is 5 but that's already the highest rate that I can give - and in my view this movie is a great missed opportunity to make something great, especially for the genre.