In The Dead Don’t Die, legendary indie director Jim Jarmusch (Mystery Train, Only Lovers Left Alive, Paterson) takes on the zombie genre in a production which is both an homage to the films of George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead, The Crazies Dawn Of The Dead) and a parable for the current American administration.
Featuring an ensemble cast which includes Adam Driver, Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton, to name but a few, the film presents a decidedly ludicrous and utterly absurd narrative which wears its anti-Trumpian credentials firmly on its sleeve from the get go.
Strange on-goings have plagued the small town of Centerville ever since polar fracking sent Earth off its axis. Entrusted with keeping the peace in these strange times, local police officers Cliff (Murray at his apathetic best) and Ronnie (a suitably dead-pan Adam Driver) decide to investigate when MAGA hat-wearing farmer Miller (Steve Buscemi) makes a complaint regarding a missing chicken which he accuses eccentric Hermit Bob (Tom Waits) of stealing.
Things take a surreal turn when the dead start coming back to life and attacking the locals. Soon the whole town is besieged by the undead and the only way out is to remember to aim for the head and hope for the best.
Jarmusch presents one of his most politically charged narratives to date. Forgoing his usual low-key subtle hints for a decidedly more obvious approach, there’s no denying that both the director and his cast appear to be having a huge amount of fun with the story.
Beyond the barely coded references to Romero’s ethos of broaching serious anti-capitalist subjects through end-of-the-world zombie narratives, Jarmusch is also able to bring his own brand of humour and signature dead-pan deliveries to the horror genre with varying degrees of success.
Crammed full of deliberately reductive allegories and symbolisms, The Dead Don’t Die may not win a prize for subtlety, but still manages to score some great surreal gags in the great Jarmuschian tradition.
Driver and Murray deliver two brilliantly quirky performances as the eternally bickering Ronnie and Cliff, while Tilda Swinton brings her unmistakable brand of eccentric otherworldliness as Zelda, the town’s enigmatic new funeral parlour attendant.
While The Dead Don’t Die might not be Jim Jarmusch’s best film by a long shot, there is still plenty here to unpack and enjoy without guilt. Hugely enjoyable, if slightly baffling in parts.
