Since George Romero’s seminal 1968 horror film Evening of the Residing Useless, we’ve seen nearly each zombie story you possibly can consider. From mutant, flesh-eating animals in Zombeavers to apocalyptic comedies equivalent to Zombieland proper as much as the wildly common Western-esque The Final of Us, zombies are actually and figuratively continually getting back from the useless. This has include some downsides, because it’s turning into more and more harder for filmmakers to create concepts on this subgenre that genuinely really feel contemporary and distinctive. Premiering at this yr’s Sundance Movie Competition, Meera Menon’s Didn’t Die forges its personal bloody path by taking the story again to the barest of bones. Whereas Romero’s haunting black-and-white DNA is throughout it, Menon manages to design her personal zombie apocalypse by making the monsters secondary and focusing carefully on a household of misfits attempting to navigate the complexities of relationships, each familial and romantic, all whereas the world has change into a hollowed and desolate model of what it as soon as was.
Think about a Little Miss Sunshine household dramedy blended with the gritty realism of probably the most restrained zombie tropes — threads of 28 Days Later are sewn in all through — and you’ve got Didn’t Die. Menon’s movie doesn’t at all times land its character-driven mumblecore model, typically force-feeding its viewers what they need to really feel as an alternative of letting them infer for themselves. It’s additionally tied to its central idea of the film’s protagonist being a podcaster, which provides nothing and solely distracts from the character dynamics which are the actual coronary heart of the story. Nonetheless, it’s a surprisingly heartfelt microcosm of what occurs to the human spirit when dwelling is relegated to survival, and the way, even in probably the most dire of conditions, human connection will at all times stay essential.
What Is ‘Didn’t Die’ About?
The world has change into accustomed to the zombie apocalypse when Didn’t Die opens. A younger couple walks down a abandoned highway, with a younger child strapped to the mom. They consult with the zombies as “biters,” and so they really feel protected strolling within the open highway as biters don’t come out in the course of the day. Nonetheless, that logic is clearly not related, because the couple is quickly attacked and killed.
We’re then launched to our protagonist, Vinitia (Kiran Deol), a sardonic podcast host who travels the nation along with her youthful brother, Rish (Vishal Vijayaumar). Vinita is a fast hand at biter-killing, stabbing them with aggressive ease, whereas Rish has by no means been in a position to pluck up the braveness to take one down himself. Rish is clearly traumatized by the apocalypse, with a heartbreaking backstory that ties into the film’s core concept of how grief can stick with an individual perpetually.
The 2 return to their hometown to go to their older brother, the pragmatic Hari (Samrat Chakrabarti), and his doting spouse Barbara (Katie McCuen). Their go to house leads them to cross paths with Vincent (George Basil), Vinita’s ex, who rescued the surviving child from the our bodies of her dad and mom killed within the chilly opening. The rise at risk and risk that the biters carry now that they will assault in the course of the day forces this prolonged household collectively, as they attempt to discover that means in a life that solely revolves round survival at any value.
‘Did not Die’ Skimps on the Zombies and Scares
Do not Die is not for anybody in search of gnarly assault scenes and gory dying sequences. The dearth of scares, although it turns into clear fairly rapidly that horror isn’t what Menon is aiming for, is disappointing. Whereas the give attention to dramedy tropes set towards a horror atmosphere does make for an fascinating distinction, the shortage of a terrorizing environment and gory dying scenes could be very a lot felt. Nonetheless, Menon is ready to craft a palpable sense of dread, even within the happier moments of the film. When the siblings are getting alongside, when the infant is smiling and laughing, Menon’s course ensures that we really feel how fleeting each comfortable second is. There’s each an inherent disappointment and nice affection in the way in which Menon frames her characters — understanding when to allow them to lead the digital camera, like in a hilarious battle scene between Vinita and Vincent, and when to carry in tight on each motion of a personality’s face and physique.
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When the film is a transparent reflection of the COVID pandemic, it hits its stride as a robust and sincere portrait of what grief appears to be like like. From Vinita’s snarky facade and Rish’s traumatized fragility to Hari’s bottling up of his grief and Barbara doing all the pieces she will to carry her in-laws collectively, we see how loss takes type in many various methods. There are occasions whenever you nearly want Didn’t Die was merely set in the course of the COVID pandemic, as a result of this mediation on household and loss is so significantly better explored than any of the zombie apocalypse facets or the podcast gimmick. Each time a biter seems or Vinita begins recording, it’s an undesirable detour simply when the film begins constructing a constant rhythm. Menon’s script, co-written with Paul Gleason, is finest when it focuses its consideration on naturalistic dialogue between the characters. When it tries to inject sweeping meditations on philosophy and life by means of Vinita’s podcast monologues — none of that are significantly groundbreaking — it provides a compelled high quality to a film that’s in any other case properly self-guiding.
‘Did not Die’ Is at Its Greatest When It Focuses on Its Eclectic Characters
With such a give attention to characters and the very refined nuances and complexities dug deep into their dynamics, casting the best actors was completely essential. Kiran Deol nails a protagonist who hides her existential dread and nervousness with irreverent and snarky humor. Once more, her podcasting narration doesn’t actually carry a lot to the plot, however Deol’s change between sparring along with her brothers and attempting to reckon along with her emotions for Vincent creates a layered and empathetic character. Simply when Vinita’s humor begins to minimize the specter of the zombie apocalypse, it simply takes one shot of Vijayakumar’s terrified face to carry the stakes up once more. The fixed flicker of trauma behind his eyes makes up for the shortage of horror within the film.
Samrat Chakrabarti and Katie McCuen’s chemistry kinds a robust spine each for his or her household and the plot. Their relationship feels lived-in, as they stave away the world’s horrors with cocktail hour and dinner events. However there’s one thing significantly affecting in McCuen’s portrayal of Barbara. Whereas her bedazzled, glitzy apparel — which extends to her zombie-killing spear — initially frames her as superficial, she finally ends up being probably the most astute and clever character out of all the ensemble. Topped off by Basil’s Vincent, who fills in a zombie trope the world can’t get sufficient of (the reluctant father determine popularized by Pedro Pascal), the Didn’t Die solid are nice on their very own however type the core of the film’s intent when collectively.
Didn’t Die works finest when it focuses on its solid of compelling characters attempting to navigate loss. Lack of family and friends, lack of a world they as soon as knew, and lack of that means in a brand new life they’ve been compelled to guide. It’s disappointing that Menon and Gleason really feel obligated to spoonfeed the themes of her script, with well-known quotes on grief separating the chapters of the film, which instantly takes the viewers out of the world that has been constructed up so nicely. With a solid of characters who’re so absolutely realized and a eager eye for human interplay, Menon’s abilities can be higher suited to following common folks on the planet as we all know it. The horror and zombie facets of Didn’t Die are merely distractions from the place Menon’s abilities really lie — capturing the quiet subtleties that make us human.
Did not Die premiered at this yr’s Sundance Movie Competition.
Did not Die
A singular tackle the zombie horror film with compelling characters however a noticeable lack of terror.
- Launch Date
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January 30, 2025
- Runtime
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89 minutes
- Director
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Meera Menon
- Producers
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Meera Menon, Paul Gleason
- Your complete solid absolutely disappears into their characters, forming real relationships.
- Did not Die does reach feeling distinctive in a oversaturated subgenre.
- It really works as an astute and resonant reflection of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The podcast gimmick provides nothing to the plot.
- Horror followers will probably be disillusioned by the shortage of scares and the zombies really feel underused.
- The script typically feels compelled in attempting to conjure up an emotional response within the viewer.
