The Dead Don't Die

I watched The Dead Don’t Die last night, and in spite of the mediocre reception, I thought it was very good. It’s a zombie movie with an experimental flair. There a ton of great characters and interesting plot choices. My only real complaint is that it’s not a series. There is so much going on, it was really too much to cram in under two hours. The way it’s structured, switching between the townsfolk, was an interesting choice, and it almost works. But it never quite fully lives up to its promises. For instance, the storyline involving the kids escaping a juvenile detention center was entirely unnecessary, while many of the characters who were killed abruptly could have benefited from more screen time. I’ve long been a fan of Jim Jarmusch, so I was prepared for his particular directorial style, but this is without question his most mainstream, accessible film, which is why the way it was pretty much universally panned surprises me. It never quite comes together as well as say Shaun of the Dead, but it’s clear that its ambitions were even greater. A dry-witted horror flick by one of the masters of independent cinema, The Dead Don’t Die is chock full of great ideas, and while most of them don’t get the chance to be fully fleshed out, there’s still a lot to like here.