The Dead Don’t Die Review
A bunch of braindead, mindless zombies hellbent on bringing about the end of the world and feasting on the remains.
No, I’m not talking about the tory party and their swivel eyed brexiteer loons, but Jim Jarmusch’s new film The Dead Don’t Die.
Though I do appreciate it’s hard to tell the difference.
In the heartlands of backwards america, something wicked this way comes.
And unlike the catastrophic climate change that’s at our very doorstep, this is something German immigrant and white supremacist in chief donald trump can’t deny.
The reckless fracking by corrupt, greed obsessed capitalist governments have knocked the earth off its axis, leading to a purple haze enveloping the moon while zombies rise from the grave to take over america’s oh so many one horse towns.
I guess this is what the bald faced liar meant by making america great again.
Luckily for the inhabitants of one such one-horse town, they have a sheriff’s office full of highly trained police officers to deal with such a situation.
Well, three officers… which is more than you’ll find in most of our police stations thanks to tory austerity.
And by well trained, I mean one of them’s got a gun, one of them’s read the script and the other knows how to scream real loud.
But just in case you’re not sure, this is not going to end well – as one clued up police officer constantly reassures us.
The Dead Don’t Die is the latest deadpan slice of indie americana from everyone’s favourite laconic auteur Jim Jarmusch.
Having covered vampires in Only Lovers Left Alive, Jim’s decided to turn his hand to zombies this time around – and he’s rounded up a who’s who of hollywood stars from his own back catalogue including Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton and Chloe Sevigny.
Hell, there’s even a zombie cameo from Iggy Pop – of course, everyone knows Iggy’s been undead for decades now.
Recycling is certainly the theme of The Dead Don’t Die as Jarmusch repackages every zombie movie trope you can think of, carefully reimagined through the filter of his darkly humorous – and increasingly meta – eye.
So we have zombies as people – or should that be people as zombies – carrying on with their daily routine as the world slowly falls apart around them.
Ring any bells?
Compared to other films from Jarmusch’s oeuvre, The Dead Don’t Die can feel a little lightweight and almost disposable.
Then again perhaps that’s the point, as a final meta comment on our disposable and entirely unsustainable way of life.
Still, who needs Bill Murray to save the day when we’ve got Boris Johnson, eh?
Jonathan Campbell