There are countless examples of movies or TV shows that have been given new life years after their release and found a place on Netflix’s trending list. This happened recently with Jim Jarmusch’s quirky 2019 horror film, The Dead Don’t Die. , which is lately being devoured by those with a Netflix subscription (it’s the third most popular movie at the time of this writing). And I can’t get over it.
I’m not going to lie, I’ve never felt more justified in loving something as much as I do now. I mean, it’s been five years since one of the most productive zombie apocalypse videos ever made came out and divided the public (many of my colleagues and friends didn’t like it). I’m not just saying this because The Dead Don’t Die is one of the most productive videos on Netflix right now, I’m going to start getting excited, but hear me out. . .
When The Dead Don’t Die came out, I was very excited to tell people how much I enjoyed the quirky zombie movie about a city suffering with an army of demons, and then I was immediately disappointed when still one of my friends liked it. It wasn’t just in my circle, either, as the film has a 54% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer and 38% on the Popcornmeter (the fan score).
Delving deeper into the subject, I went back to see what my colleagues at CinemaBlend thought about it at the time. Although we gave the film a score of 3/5 in our official review of The Dead Don’t Die, this is the highest score among the staff. The average score is only 2. 4/5, worse than Men in Black International, any other film released the same weekend.
Do I have bad taste or has almost no one been able to see it in a silly horror comedy starring Bill Murray, Adam Driver and Selena Gomez?
I watched the movie once or twice after seeing it the first time, but I had largely left it in the back of my mind. For example, it’s become one of those videos that I only think of when I talk about Adam. The most productive videos of the host or when he bets “The Dead Don’t Die” by Sturgill Simpson on Spotify.
So, you can probably believe how surprised and extremely happy I was when I saw the star-studded zombie movie that tops Netflix’s trending list. How did this random movie that only a small organization of other people (including me) enjoyed five years ago become more popular than Barbie and Megan Fox’s sexy robot movie?But hey, I’m not looking to make sense of this, I’m just satisfied that more people are in a position to see Bill Murray calmly deal with a zombie outbreak after all those years.
When it comes to zombie movies (or horror movies in general) with massive casts, this one is in a league of its own. Bill Murray, Adam Driver, and Chloë Sevigny all play cops, Tilda Swinton plays a katana-wielding funeral home director, Danny Glover plays a hardware store owner, Selena Gomez and a pre-Elvis Austin Butler play young travelers, Iggy Pop, RZA, and Tom Waits play random characters, and Carol Kane plays a drunk zombie looking for a bottle of chardonnay.
And that’s just part of the cast. I’m convinced that other people will get to see those actors take on (or become) zombies after all. Sure, some of the lines sound like the actors are reading their lines for the first time, but it actually adds charm to what I’ve long considered one of the most productive horror films of all time. Everyone in this movie, even the actors most associated with dramatic roles, seems to be having the time of their lives.
The Dead Don’t Die is an extremely meta movie. Like, one of the most meta horror movies I’ve ever seen, and that aspect adds so much to the film. I’m just glad that now more people are experiencing it for themselves. Does it mean they all like it? No, probably not. But people are watching it like crazy.
There are scenes throughout where the characters reference they’re in a movie by talking about the title song, but there’s also a moment near the end where Driver’s Officer Ronnie Peterson tells Murray’s Cliff Roberton he knew things would end up badly because he read it in the script “Jim” gave him. He’s facing death, and Driver is sitting there with this awkward, deadpan delivery talking about the script. Brilliant!
I don’t know how many people know this, but Sturgill Simpson can write a very intelligent song. They’ve released some of my favorite albums over the last fifteen years, and honestly, their title track is one of the best additions to their discography. The song is used several times throughout the film, adding to a rather captivating scene in which Selena Gomez drives down a lonely country road.
Similar to an old gospel song like “What Are They Doing in Heaven Today,” this beautifully composed and directed country song is perfect, even without the context of the movie. Simpson’s “Breakers Roar” from her 2016 album, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, used masterfully in a surely surprising scene from this previous year’s Civil War, and although “The Dead Don’t Die” is used more comedically to Fitting with the tone of the zombie movie, it has a similar charming effect that is helping the scene slide.
And if you haven’t already, this song is a wonderful addition to the work of one of today’s greatest and most creative country singers.
There are plenty of zombie videos to come, but I doubt we’ll see anything like The Dead Don’t Die anytime soon or ever again. But it’s not all bad news, because we are blessed with a smart and messy age.
Stream The Dead Don’t Die on Netflix.
Philip grew up in Louisiana (not New Orleans) before moving to St. Louis after graduating from Louisiana State University-Shreveport. When he’s not writing about movies or television, Philip can be found being chased by his three kids, telling his dogs to stop barking at the mailman, or chatting about professional wrestling to his wife. Writing gigs with school newspapers, multiple daily newspapers, and other varied job experiences led him to this point where he actually gets to write about movies, shows, wrestling, and documentaries (which is a huge win in his eyes). If the stars properly align, he will talk about For Love Of The Game being the best baseball movie of all time.
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