David Lorensene and Nik McGrath
Do you have a warped sense of humour and enjoy a slow-zombie paced film? The Dead Don’t Die (Jarmusch, 2019) will have you chuckling. The film is slow and shambling, just like a zombie from the film. So is the score, which is static, slow and atmospheric.
Carol Kane as Mallory is hilarious. “Chardonnay!”
Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, in his signature style of long silences and dry dialogue, well-established in his previous work such as “Dead Man” (Jarmusch, 1995), “Coffee and Cigarettes” (Jarmusch, 2003), and “Only Lovers Left Alive” (Jarmusch, 2013). Interesting word choice for the title, especially the use of the word ‘die’ when you consider this is a film about zombies and the end of the world. Sister piece “Only Lovers Left Alive” (2013), use of the word ‘alive’ in the title, is a film about vampires and immortality. We wonder if Jarmusch plans another in this series, perhaps about werewolves?!
Jarmusch pulls together an incredible cast in this low budget indie film, perhaps because he has worked with many of these actors before. Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tom Waits, Chloë Sevigny, Tilda Swindon, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Caleb Landry Jones, Rose Perez, Larry Fessenden, Carol Kane, and Iggy Pop.
Left to Right - Adam Driver as Officer Ronnie Peterson, Chloë Sevigny as Officer Mindy Morrison, and Bill Murray as Chief Cliff Robertson.
Something interesting to note is the use of groups of three. Three police officers - Chief Cliff Robertson, Officer Ronnie Peterson, and Officer Mindy Morrison. All three have a surname ending in ‘son’. Three juveniles in detention - Stella, Olivia, and Geronimo. Three hipsters from Cleveland - Zoe, Jack, and Zack. Jack and Zach rhymes. Three regulars in the diner - Lily, Fern, and Hank. Lily and Fern have plant names. Not sure if that’s significant or not.
Left to Right. - Lucka Sabbat as Zack, Selena Gomez as Zoe, Austin Butler as Jack, and Caleb Landry Jones as Bobby Wiggins.
Another interesting correlation is between characters Ronnie and Bobby. They are both geeks, similar age, have impressive knowledge about zombie films, especially “Night of the Living Dead” and “Dawn of the Dead”, and warn everyone they can that zombies are coming and to “kill the head”. They also thrive in the post-apocalypse world.
Tilda Swinton as the Scottish-katana wielding-mortician Zela Winston, does not disappoint.
This film is so meta. The fourth wall is regularly broken, to the audience’s amusement. For instance, a reference to the theme song “The Dead Don’t Die” by Sturgill Simpson, amusing conversations between the Chief and Ronnie about the script, and Bobbie exclaiming proudly, “I’ve nearly seen every zombie film”... Although zombie films are referenced often, The Dead Don’t Die is unique in its reasoning behind the zombie uprising. Not many zombie films have an explanation, exceptions include 28 Days Later (Boyle, 2002), Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (Grau, 1974) and Brain Dead (Jackson, 1992).
Tom Waits as Hermit Bob really ties the film together and his scenes that bookend the film are fantastic.
The Dead Don’t Die was quite dividing amongst reviewers and fans of zombie films when it was released. It is not for everyone, but if you have a quirky sense of humour and like a slow burn then this film is for you.
Here are a few zombie films we recommend (besides the obvious)...
Living Dead at Manchester Morgue [aka Let Sleeping Corpses Lie] - Spanish/Italian production
Nightmare City [aka City of the Walking Dead] (Lenzi, 1980) - Spanish/Italian production
Brain Dead [aka Dead Alive] - Peter Jackson’s third feature film; highly recommend if you enjoy the Evil Dead films
Dellamorte Dellamore (Soavi, 1994) [aka Cemetery Man] - Italian production; Ruppert Everett stars in this crazy time jumping humorous zombie film