There are countless examples of videos or TV shows that have been given new life years after their release and found a spot on Netflix’s trending list. This happened recently with Jim Jarmusch’s offbeat 2019 horror film The Dead Don’t Die, which is lately being devoured by those with a Netflix subscription (it’s the editorial team’s third most popular film at the moment). 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 unconventional zombie movie about the city fighting an army of demons, and then was immediately disappointed when one of my friends still liked it. It wasn’t just in my circle either, as the film has a 54% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer and a 38% on the Popcornmeter (the fan score).
Digging deeper into the topic, 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 The Dead Don’t Die review, this is the highest score among the staff. The average score is only 2. 4/5, worse than Men in Black International, some other film released the same weekend.
Do I have bad taste or did almost everyone miss the part in a clumsy 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 topping Netflix’s trending list. What is happening here? How did this random movie that only a small organization of other people (including me) enjoyed five years ago become more popular than the sexy Barbie and Megan Fox robot movie? But hey, I’m not looking to make sense of this, I’m just glad that more people are in a position to watch 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 a part of the cast. I’m convinced that people can finally see those actors face (or become) zombies. Sure, some of the lines make it look like the actors were reading their lines for the first time, but it actually adds to the charm. of what I’ve long considered one of the most productive horror videos of all time. Everyone in this film, even the actors most associated with dramatic roles, turns out to be having an unforgettable time.
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 damn good song. He’s put out some of my favorite albums of the past decade-and-a-half, and his title track here is honestly one of the finest additions to his discography. The song is used multiple times throughout the movie, including a rather transfixing scene featuring Selena Gomez driving down a lonely country road.
Sounds like an old gospel song like “What are you doing today in heaven?”, this wonderfully composed and directed country song is perfect, even without the context of the film. Simpson’s “Breakers Roar” from his 2016 LP, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, was masterfully used in a surely surprising scene from this previous year’s Civil War, and “The Dead Don’t Die” is used in a more comedic way to fit the zombie movie tone, it has a similar charming effect that helps 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 a lot of upcoming zombie movies on the way, 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, as we’re blessed with this silly mess of a good time.
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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