The Dead Don't Die (R)
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What can I say about this film? First of all, it's partially a comedy, but the humor is so dry and deadpan that I don't even feel like including a link to it under "comedy horror", as I've done for some zombie movies. Also, there are a couple of spots where characters break the fourth wall, which is something I always enjoy. But most of the time they act like they're unaware of the movie being a movie. Wikipedia calls the movie "absurdist", and I absolutely can't argue with that. It was written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, a name I'm vaguely familiar with, though I'm not really familiar with his work. The movie bills itself as having "The greatest zombie cast ever disassembled", and I have to admit, it's a pretty good cast. I mean, there are a lot of people in it with whom I'm unfamiliar, but also a fair number I do know. Anyway, I guess the movie didn't do particularly well either financially or critically, but I certainly liked it.

It's set in the small town of Centerville, where we meet police chief Cliff Robertson (a very sedate Bill Murray) and officer Ronnie Peterson (Adam Driver, taking things pretty much in stride). They respond to a report by a farmer named Frank Miller (Steve Buscemi, wearing a "Keep America White Again" hat), claiming one of his chickens was stolen by Hermit Bob (Tom Waits). The chief warns Bob not to do anything else illegal, but otherwise leaves him alone. We'll see Bob at various points throughout the movie, noting mildly strange anomalies in the woods, and watching the events going on in town from the woods. Meanwhile, we meet plenty of other characters. There's Officer Mindy Morrison (Chloë Sevigny), apparently the only other police officer in town. There's a dead body lying in one of the police station's two cells, waiting to be picked up. (I didn't get a good look at her at first, but when she later becomes undead, she's clearly played by Carol Kane, in a very brief role). There's a diner where two waitresses named Fern and Lily work, and we see Frank Miller there as a customer, as well as another customer named Hank Thompson (Danny Glover). I guess Lily also works at the local funeral home, which has recently come under the management of a strange and mysterious new undertaker named Zelda Winston (Tilda Swinton, at her Tilda Swinton-est), but we never get a chance to see Lily working there, because she and Fern get killed by a couple of zombies (one of whom is played by Iggy Pop). There's the attendant at a gas station/toy shop named Bobby Wiggins, who is into horror movies and other geeky interests. He has a friend, a delivery driver named Dean (RZA). There's a motel manager named Danny Perkins. There are a few out of state travelers named Zoe (Selena Gomez), Jack, and Zack (Luka Sabbat, whom I know from Grown-ish). They rent a room at Danny's motel. There are three young inmates at a juvenile detention center named Stella, Olivia, and Geronimo. And there's a reporter we only see on TV, named Posie Juarez (Rosie Perez).

There are various strange things going on, like the daylight coming and going at odd hours. Everyone's cell phones seem to be dead. TV and radio broadcasts are a bit glitchy. And the dead are being reanimated. This is all apparently due to the Earth being tilted off its axis because of polar fracking, though we hear people on the news refuting this claim. Anyway, at first there are only two zombies, the ones who killed Fern and Lily. When Hank discovers their bodies the next morning and calls the police about it, Ronnie is the first to suspect zombies, while most other folks find this hard to believe, at first. But eventually there are lots and lots of zombies roaming the streets and attacking people, who then become zombies themselves. Everyone does their best to defend themselves, and a lot of zombies get killed, but there are just too many of them to deal with. Probably the best person at dealing with them, though, is Zelda, who wields a samurai sword. (I'd be tempted to call her "badass", if not for how unnaturally calm and weird she is about everything.) Anyway, the zombies all gravitate towards doing things they did in life, and each one repeatedly speaks one word related to those activities. (There's some kind of point the movie is trying to make about the zombielike nature of the living, but I felt like that point was done better by Shaun of the Dead.) What more can I say? Several times throughout the movie, we hear the song The Dead Don't Die by Sturgill Simpson, which is the movie's theme song and is enjoyed by various characters. That's one of the film's more meta touches. Ronnie keeps saying "This is going to end badly", which eventually begins to annoy Cliff. (But he's right.) And I'm sure lots of other stuff happens throughout the movie, including one event I quite enjoyed, but wouldn't dream of spoiling, involving Zelda.

So... yeah. It's kind of a weird movie, not just in its absurdities, but in how understated most of the performances are, and... I don't know, just everything about it is weird, but not weird enough for me to list it under "weird movies". I don't give a crap about any "message" the movie might be trying to convey, but aside from that I think I liked the whole thing. But I can also totally understand anyone disliking it. I wish I could think of more to say, but I on the other hand maybe the movie doesn't merit too much analysis. It's just a bunch of random stuff that happens, with zombies, and either you'll find it amusing or you won't.