Usually when you see a long list of famous people doing random cameos in a film you know exactly what you’re in for: a romantic comedy based around a holiday. Not, however, in this case. No, despite the rom-com style marketing for The Dead Don’t Die, the film is actually Jim Jarmusch’s zom-com (yes, that’s an actual genre) film starring everyone who has ever been in one of movies and then some. That includes Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Caleb Landry Jones, Rosie Perez, Iggy Pop, Sara Driver, RZA, Selena Gomez, Carol Kane, Austin Butler, Luka Sabbat and Tom Waits.
Jarmusch is known for taking genre films and turning them on their head, but I’m not quite sure that this one is doing that at all. In fact, it looks like a pretty straightforward zombie comedy. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but one might have expected a bit more from the prolific writer/director. The trailer looks fun enough, but I’m really not sure what it’s bringing to the game that has already been brought — you know, aside from the stellar collection of actors and musicians showing up in it. Maybe Jarmusch, after years of making films with emotional punch and thematic layers, just wanted to have some fun with his friends. No harm in that; I’m always up for some random zombie violence.
I’m also a bit bummed that the trailer starts out as a grindhouse parody and then totally drops the ball. Stick with your themes, marketing team!
The Dead Don’t Die will release on June 14, 2019.
