Netflix's whimsical zombie comedy is now a top 10 hit

The author Jonathan Klotz
| Published 3 days ago

Halloween may be in the mirror, but a wonderful horror comedy has been part of Netflix's top 10 for almost the entire month of December, and it might just be the strangest success story of the month. The dead don't die not a simple zombie comedy like Shaun of the Dead and manages to go even beyond the absurd zombie movie Fido with twists and turns that you can't see coming. Granted, they're impossible because director Jim Jarmusch flips everything expected of a typical zombie movie and replaces it with a bitter, sardonic black comedy that you wouldn't expect from such a star-studded cast.

A small town zombie invasion

Trying to describe the real plot The dead don't die is futile. It starts out normal enough, two police officers investigate a report of missing animals, and then they start noticing strange things, like how the clock has suddenly stopped working. Background news reports show what happens before the zombies start to rise from the ground and start feasting on the living citizens of Centerville.

From its humble beginnings, The dead don't die quickly spirals wildly out of control, breaking the fourth wall for one brief, well-earned hysterical moment. Two Centralville officers, Cliff and Ronnie, are played by Bill Murray and Adam Driverin a movie pairing that I never knew I needed to see before this movie, but now consider one of the greatest cross-generational pairings of all time. No matter what happens in their neighborhood, Murray and Driver keep things the same from beginning to end, like how Farmer Miller doesn't deserve a warning about zombies or Ronnie's affinity for Mexicans.

Challenges every zombie movie trope

The dead don't die is well-aware of zombie movie tropes and expects the viewer to be aware of them as well, which makes the apparent list-checking of each film and how it's subverted all the more satisfying. Normally you look for the most famous person in the cast and assume they'll be fine, but the cast is stacked from top to bottom; besides Murray and Driver, you'll also recognize Danny Glover, Austin Butler, Selena Gomez, Chloe Sevigny, Tilda Swinton, Steve BuscemiRosie Perez and Carol Kane. For music fans, Iggy Pop, RZA, Sturgill Simpson and Tom Waits round out the incredible cast.

Netflix's top ten usually includes the latest original movie heavily influenced by the algorithm, one or two major new releases, and usually a seasonal movie. What it doesn't usually show, and especially not in the top five for more than a week, is the likes of the movie The dead don't die which your average moviegoer would describe as “weird”. The reason I mention the fourth wall break is because it's not even the weirdest thing that happens during the movie, and after re-watching it I'm even more surprised that it's enjoying such a big boost in popularity because it means there's hope that your average Netflix the subscriber actually has good taste.

Rare original film

The dead don't die is an easy recommendation for anyone who's seen more than one zombie movie, or if you want to see something that dares to be different, takes risks, and is the exact opposite of the ostensibly focus group movies that have plagued theaters for the past decade. . Bill Murray and Adam Driver's zombie flick won't blow your mind a scream horror but it will make you laugh and some of the murders may make you cringe but it will surprise you.

The dead don't die currently streaming on Netflix.