Didn’t Die is a contemporary spin on the zombie style, mixing deadpan comedy with post-apocalyptic horror in a method I haven’t actually seen earlier than.
It’s not that the undead aren’t terrifying, they completely are, however the best way the movie performs with tone makes it distinctive. As an alternative of the same old bleak, survivalist desperation, there is a lightness to how a number of the characters strategy their crumbling world.
That distinction between dread and humor retains issues participating, by no means letting the film settle into one predictable rhythm.
The story unfolds via the attitude of Vinita (Kiran Deol), a podcast host documenting life in a world overrun by “biters.” She travels, interviews survivors, and processes the chaos round her via the filter of her present.
It’s an fascinating framing gadget that provides the movie a singular voice. The dialogue has an informal, lived-in really feel, and the characters work together in a method that feels pure fairly than scripted.
It’s additionally refreshing to see a zombie film lean into this sort of conversational storytelling, the place the humor and horror exist facet by facet with out undercutting one another.
Past the humor, the movie builds a compelling world. Society has collapsed into chaos and it’s restructured in ways in which really feel oddly practical but fragile. There are amusing and sudden story beats, like a person making an attempt to dump a child he discovered after its dad and mom had been killed.
The movie thrives on these sorts of moments which are odd and darkly humorous. It retains you in your toes, by no means fairly understanding whether or not the subsequent scene shall be absurd, tense, or unexpectedly emotional.
Regardless of its deadpan humor, Didn’t Die doesn’t ignore the actual risks of its world. There are moments of depth the place characters are compelled to battle for survival, grounding the story in actual stakes. And as a lot because the movie performs with tone, it is aware of when to settle into one thing extra honest.
By the top, after all of the unusual encounters and shut calls, the movie lands on a notice that’s each somber and refreshingly hopeful. A fantastic conclusion to a narrative about discovering connection, even in the long run of days.
