In Netflix’s top 10 films, there is currently a zombie film that stands out from genre representatives like The Walking Dead. Expect anything but an ordinary undead spectacle.
With films like Down by Law and Night on Earth, Jim Jarmusch became one of the most popular independent directors of the last decades. In addition to realistic dramas or tragicomedies about completely ordinary people, the American has also repeatedly tried his hand at different genres.
This is how it came about that a zombie film by Jarmusch was released in 2019, which currently ranks third in Netflix’s top 10 films. Anyone who only knows the undead from films and series like 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead and The Walking Dead will probably quickly reach their limits with The Dead Don’t Die.
Zombie hit on Netflix: The Dead Don’t Die couldn’t care less about its own genre
In Jarmusch’s film, a small town full of stars like Adam Driver (Paterson), Selena Gomez (Emilia Perez) and Bill Murray (Lost in Translation) is terrorized by zombies. Instead of classic horror or action scenes, The Dead Don’t Die is more the work of a director who has seen all possible zombie films and has no desire to make one himself.
Watch the German trailer for The Dead Don’t Die here:
For long stretches, Jarmusch simply observes the cozy small-town life of his characters, which is repeatedly loosened up by dry humor. Even the outbreak of the zombie apocalypse is no reason to panic. Even at such moments, The Dead Don’t Die dispenses with conventional moments of tension or any form of dramaturgy at all. The film is more the ultimate anti-The Walking Dead.
