Jim Jarmusch has a distinct filmmaking style. His films are often filled with long, meandering conversations and deadpan humor and portray a monotonous pace of life. So, they often feel removed from our lives catered to survive under capitalism. “The Dead Don’t Die” shows these distinct Jarmusch film traits in a narrative about a zombie apocalypse. In a bizarre mix of comedy and horror, the film features a cast of wonderful actors like Adam Driver, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, and Danny Glover to young stars like Austin Butler, Selena Gomez, and Caleb Landry Jones or the musical legends like RZA, Tom Waits, and Iggy Pop.
Spoilers Ahead
The Dead Don’t Die (2019) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
Jim Jarmusch’s “The Dead Don’t Die” follows two police officers from a small American town who witness the signs of undead people killing humans around them. Along the way, we glean glimpses into their routines, the quirks that define them, and the beliefs they hold dear – all factors that will play a crucial role in their fight for survival when the apocalypse descends. Told in Jim Jarmusch’s unique style, the film presents a mix of absurdist comedy, horror, and drama. For those who are more acquainted with Hollywood’s snappy style of editing, these films may not appeal right away.
What happens in ‘The Dead Don’t Die’?
“The Dead Don’t Die” follows the residents of the small town named Centerville, going about their daily lives. Officer Ronnie Peterson (Adam Driver) joins Chief Cliff Robertson (Bill Murray) to question Hermit Bob (Tom Waits) in the woods for stealing a chicken from the local farmer. Bob refuses to cooperate with them. Still, Cliff decides to return to the station. Ronnie thinks they will need to arrest Bob someday. But Cliff doesn’t think Bob is capable of violence. Officer Mindy Morrison calls them to inform something strange in the town. But the line keeps cutting while she speaks.
Ronnie notices that his watch has stopped working and that his cell phone is dead. Cliff notices that there’s still light even though it is past 8 PM. He puts on a CD of Sturgill Simpson’s ‘The Dead Don’t Die’ in the car. While they drive back to the station, Frank Miller (Steve Buscemi) and Hank Thompson (Danny Glover) have coffee in the local diner. Miller is a right-wing nutcase who wants America to be white again. The news talks about scientists warning about a possible ecological calamity. However, the capitalists keep refuting the validity of their claims since scientific knowledge would affect their self-serving businesses.
What happens in Centerville?
At the Juvenile Detention Center, Geronimo (Jahi Di’Allo Winston) joins Olivia (Taliyah Whitaker) & Stella (Maya Delmont) to watch the news about the recent ecological changes. Geronimo believes that polar fracking can alter the Earth’s rotation, which can result in complete planetary destruction. However, the male guard doesn’t let him stay with his female friends because of their flawed and rigid rules. Meanwhile, Bobby Wiggins (Caleb Landry Jones) hears about the crisis on a radio in his toy shop. His friend & delivery worker, Dean (RZA), tells him to pay attention to the little things in the world. Solitary Bobby considers them words of wisdom.
In the TV news, Posie Juarez (Rosie Perez) talks about recently observed strange, erratic behavior by pets. One of them started scratching their parents. Local motel owner Danny Perkins (Larry Fessenden) gets alarmed by it and cannot find his pets. Frank also notices his pet dog suddenly running away from the farm. Meanwhile, at the diner, the waitresses talk about a woman who has recently moved from Scotland to their town and bought a Funeral Home. Lily (Rosal Colon) tells Fern (Eszter Balint) about her house filled with swords and whatnot.
How do Zombies appear in Centerville?
While the Centreville residents learn about the ecological crisis, Bob observes the people in the town. At night, two dead people (Iggy Pop & Sara Driver) suddenly reanimate, enter the diner, and kill Lilly & Fern. The next day, the cops learn about this horrifying incident. Cliff & Ronnie discuss what might have caused it. Ronnie thinks Zombies killed the waitresses. While that happens, a group of young travelers, Zoe (Selena Gomez), Jack (Austin Butler), and Zack (Luka Sabbat), enter the town. They cross past the gas station and meet Bobby, who has geeky knowledge about films.
Zoe buys a CD of Sturgill Simpson’s songs at Bobby’s store and checks into the local motel with her friends. The motel owner believes they are hippies from the city. Ronnie believes they are from Cleveland, and Zoe is partly Mexican. The locals are not sure what to make of these visitors arriving in their town just when they have witnessed two murders. Ronnie & Cliff visit the graveyard to find two graves open. Although they become aware of the zombie apocalypse, Cliff decides not to inform Frank about it. Later that night, more zombies emerge from their graves and start scavenging in the town. The three teens in the detention center get a hint of it and start running for their lives.
The Dead Don’t Die (2019) Movie Ending Explained:
The newly unearthed zombies kill the motel owner, who ends up killing the visitors. Back at the station, drunk and dead Mallory (Carol Kane) reanimates as a zombie. Ronnie beheads her to protect themselves. In the funeral home, Zelda notices a couple of corpses turn to zombies. She slashes their heads with swords. The town soon gets overtaken by the zombies. They kill Hank & Bobby and also turn them into zombies. The police start realizing the gravity of the situation. With Mindy, Cliff, and Ronny start driving around the town to communicate with the people.
The cops find the three travelers dead in their motel room. Ronnie beheads them before they turn into zombies. Although Mindy gets emotional seeing the massacre, Ronnie is strangely stoic about the entire situation. So, he also takes Zoe’s Sturgill Simpson CD to play it in their car. But Cliff gets annoyed by the song and throws the CD outside. Soon, they realize that the undead people are trying to do the things they wanted to when they were alive. At the graveyard, their car is surrounded by a heap of zombies. In that crowd, she notices her grandmother and decides to walk out of the car. So, she also gets killed and turned into a zombie.
Do Cliff & Ronnie survive the zombie apocalypse?
Zelda drives Ronnie’s car through town and stops to kill a fashion-forward zombie. She then reaches the cemetery with her sword. As a UFO appears over it, the zombies step away. The UFO beams up, takes Zelda, and returns to the space. Meanwhile, Ronnie & Cliff break the fourth wall when Ronnie mentions that he knows things won’t end well because Jim (the writer-director) gave him the entire script. Cliff says that he only got his scenes. After they see Zelda depart on the UFO, they leave their cars to kill the zombies. Although they start on a good note, the zombies soon overwhelm them. So, in the end, they do not survive the apocalypse.
Bob watches over them as he talks about his point of view as an observer. The film represents several things that make humans as cannibalistic as Zombies through their daily actions and lead to a similarly apocalyptic catastrophe. Be it materialistic greed, hatred based on gender, race, or sexuality, or the needless emphasis on trivial differences, human-made issues can eventually lead to the demise of humans.
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