The 2019 zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die is was not appreciated in its time, but it’s finding its audience now on Netflix. The movie is trending this week — possibly due to its star-studded cast. If you have access to a Netflix subscription this holiday season, you should definitely take the time to check this one out.
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The Dead Don’t Die was written and directed by indie film pioneer Jim Jarmusch, and its A-list cast includes Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Tilda Swinton, Tom Waits, Danny Glover, Caleb Landry Jones, Rosie Perez, Iggy Pop, Carol Kane, RZA, Austin Butler, and Selena Gomez. It is an absurdist comedy set in a small American town during the outbreak of a sudden zombie invasion. Murray, Driver and Sevigny play the local police trying to deal with the onslaught.
The movie has some impressive action, a surprising amount of laughs and many moments of real terror. The whole thing is set off by a sense of unreality, with intentionally nonsensical dialogue and stilted performances in some places. However, that helps add to the sense of eeriness in the story and ultimately serves the unexpected ending.
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The Dead Don’t Die debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019, and it got a limited theatrical release in the U.S. the following month. A month after that, it got a limited theatrical release in the U.K. According to Box Office Mojo, the movie made a total of $15.3 million at the box office, but its production budget was not disclosed, so it’s hard to say how successful or unsuccessful it was financially.
Critically, The Dead Don’t Die is just as hard to pin down. The movie has a 54 percent positive score on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 5.8 out of 10. Critics found it puzzling with a constantly shifting tone, although many agreed that the cast made it watchable and held the story together. My review at the time was on the positive end of the spectrum — I felt that its use of a small town setting to confront global issues was compelling to watch from start to finish.
Still, viewers coming to this movie expecting a zombie movie, or a Bill Murray movie, or any of the other formulas they may see advertised here will be disappointed. The movie plays on genre and expectations to confound its viewers, without ever delivering the catharsis they expected. More than anything, it’s a Jim Jarmusch movie, and viewers should know that going in.
The Dead Don’t Die is rated R, and it probably won’t be a great choice for most family gatherings in the weeks to come. It’s hard to say why it’s streaming right now, though its cast is so big and so lauded that odds are someone in the ensemble is trending right now. Netflix may be recommending it based on the success of another title with one of the same stars, but if so it’s not immediately obvious.
The Dead Don’t Die is streaming now on Netflix. It is also available to rent or purchase on Blu-ray and DVD.
