THE DEAD DON'T DIE (2019) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

the dead don't die (2019) movie

Genre           |   Horror Comedy

Classification   |   MA 15+

Running time   |   105 minutes

Released         |   26 September 2019

cast

Bill Murray ... Chief Cliff Robertson
Adam Driver ... Officer Ronnie Peterson
Tom Waits ... Hermit Bob
Chloë Sevigny ... Officer Mindy Morrison
Steve Buscemi ... Farmer Frank Miller
Danny Glover ... Hank Thompson
Carol Kane ... Mallory O'Brien
Tilda Swinton ... Zelda Winston
​Iggy Pop ... Male Coffee Zombie

director

Jim Jarmusch

writer

Jim Jarmusch ... (written by)

cinematographer

​Frederick Elmes

music

​​Affonso Gonçalves ... music editor
Ilyse Wolfe Tretter ... music counsel

film editor

​Affonso Gonçalves

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box office result

Worldwide             $​14,760,664

Australia                 $​​233,992

North America       $​6,563,605

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movie minutiae

​Tilda Swinton gave Jim Jarmusch the idea of doing a zombie movie while working on Only Lovers Left Alive.

Zoe, Zack and Jack drive a Pontiac LeMans. This is the exact same make and model driven by Barbara (Judith O'Dea) and Johnny (Russell Streiner) in the prologue of the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD(1968).

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related movies

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)

THE DEAD DON'T DIE (2019) MOVIE IMAGES

Images

Posters

Images

Posters

THE DEAD DON'T DIE (2019) STORY SYNOPSIS

​In the sleepy small town of Centerville, something is not quite right. The moon hangs large and low in the sky, the hours of daylight are becoming unpredictable, and animals are beginning to exhibit unusual behaviors. News reports are scary, and scientists are concerned, but no one foresees the strangest and most dangerous repercussion that will soon start plaguing Centerville: the dead rise from their graves and feast on the living, and the citizens must battle to survive.

THE DEAD DON'T DIE (2019) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 24 September 2019

​​Pop Movee Rating

THE DEAD DON’T DIE is a film that skirts around the edges of humanity, depicting events in a small American town that becomes the epicentre for the destruction of humanity and, along the way, demonstrating that we’re all responsible for looking out for one another and the planet we inhabit.

Many will wonder why such a vastly talented group of performers are even involved in such a kooky, independent production such as THE DEAD DON’T DIE. The answer lies in the name of the man who created this off-beat cautionary tale about 21st Century consumerism… Jim Jarmusch.

Jarmusch has been in the entertainment industry since the late 1970s and made a name for himself directing music videos for artists such as Talking Heads, Big Audio Dynamite and Tom Waits. Waits has collaborated with Jarmusch throughout the years and, in THE DEAD DON’T DIE, he plays Hermit Bob, just about the only guy who actually works out why a Zombie uprising has overwhelmed the small country town of Centreville, USA.

Jarmusch himself loves to play against viewer expectation and his sense-of-humour is not for everyone, but if you can immerse yourself in the material, the quirkiness becomes infectious. Like most great comedy, an appreciation of just how ridiculous the world is helps one to take Jarmusch on face value and enjoy the film for what it means, not what is does.

Perhaps the great feat of THE DEAD DON’T DIE is Jarmusch’s ability to take the film’s story and use it as a reference point to understand that the viewer, as much as the film’s performers, are part of the story’s exploration of consumerism and its impact upon 21st Century society.

Jarmusch points the finger squarely at all of us and says ‘Yep, you out there, you’re as much a part of the problem as the people up here on the screen…”

Even better, he does it with a wink and a crooked smile.

Adam Driver is the key to unpacking a lot of the film’s humour. His deadpan, matter-of-fact (kind of like Dragnet’s Joe Friday) delivery is a delight to watch. It’s encouraging to see that Driver hasn’t fallen to the “Dark Side” of Hollywood, despite his presence as Kylo Ren in the new STAR WARS trilogy, and still feels the need to explore different parts of his performance set. As Officer Ronnie Peterson; he’s the film’s heart, but he’s also its voice-of-reason, forced to make hard decisions when confronted with the obvious: Zombies are on the rise!

Ronnie is the junior partner to Bill Murray’s Chief Cliff Roberston...

Murray isn’t second banana on this film, but Driver’s performance is so straight-laced inscrutable that the more senior of the pair becomes passive player the longer the film runs. Only at the very end of the film does Murray take a more aggressive approach in dealing with the Zombie threat, but even then, he still has some moral challenges in dealing with the problem.

Chloe Sevigny rounds out the trio of local law enforcement...

Officer Mindy Morrison isn’t quite up to the job of being a Sheriff’s Deputy, but she does her best. Murray’s Chief Robertson takes pity upon her, suggesting she take one crowd control at a crime scene when it’s obvious she’s not up to processing the horrific crime before her.

Sevigny adds a sense of desperation with her character, pointing out the insanity of what’s happening, clinging to the hope that everything will be alright. 

Jarmusch serves up a smorgasbord of secondary characters to help fill out the roster of Centreville’s inhabitants. Much like any town or suburb anywhere on the face of the planet, there’s nothing extraordinary about them. They’re just people going about their business. From Steve Buscemi’s cantankerous Farmer Frank Miller to the absolute gentleman Hank Thompson, played by veteran character actor Danny Glover, in their own way they’re all as honest as the day is long.

The left field entry in THE DEAD DON’T DIE is Tilda Swinton’s Zelda Winston.

Apparently, Swinton suggested to Jarmusch that he should make a Zombie movie when she worked with him on ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE (2013).

It’s fitting then that Swinton appear in THE DEAD DON’T DIE as its most bizarre character...

Swinton has made a career out of playing roles that require her to stretch the boundaries of physical transformation but in THE DEAD DON’T DIE it’s more to do with her persona than her appearance. There’s something strange about her Zelda the moment Jarmusch introduces her; the recently arrived new owner of the Centreville funeral home with her broad Scottish accent and purposeful stride in her step…

It might be argued that Jarmusch “jumps the shark” with her character, but - once again - those prepared to invest in the story will probably forgive him his indulgence with Zelda and accept that her presence is all part of the crazy way in which the Universe unfolds.

When it comes to an environmental message, THE DEAD DON’T DIE is a little too “on the nose”. The all-too-frequent reference to “polar fracking” throughout the story draws too much attention away from the happenings in Centreville. As a device to provide context about why the Zombie uprising has happened it’s fine, but it feels like it gets one too many mentions and that it’s a pet cause that Jarmusch hopes the audience will take away with them if he references it enough throughout the film’s 105 minute running time.

The broader “consumerism” message is delivered more subtly and is far more effective…

Adam Driver’s Ronnie says at one point toward the end of the film that Zombies are attracted to the same things that they liked when they were part of humanity. So, even when we’re dead, THE DEAD DON’T DIE suggests we, as a species, can’t let go of our creature comforts, our self-indulgent past times or our 21st Century need to build our identity around a smartphone…

These are the things that have doomed us (and, according to Tom Waits’ Hermit Bob) will continue to do so.

THE DEAD DON’T DIE is a quirky film, but, if you care to dig a little deeper, Jarmusch has a point. Let go of some of the “stuff” you fill your life with and take better care of what was here before you, so others, in the future, may get to enjoy and benefit from this unique planet. Otherwise, it might just be the end for all of us!

THE DEAD DON'T DIE MOVIE (2019) USEFUL LINKS

The Dead Don't Die (2019 film) - Wikipedia
The Dead Don't Die (2019) - IMDb
The Dead Don't Die (2019) - Rotten Tomatoes

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