The Dead Don’t Die is popular on Netflix and I feel entitled to love this whimsical zombie flick

On December 23, 2024By Littum

There have been countless examples of movies or TV series being revived years after their release and finding a place on the Netflix trending list. It happened most recently with Jim Jarmusch’s whimsical horror film from 2019, The dead don’t diewhich right now is being eaten up by those with one Netflix subscription (it was the third most popular film at the time of writing). And I can’t get over it.

I’m not going to lie, I’ve never felt more justified in loving something as much as I do right now. I mean, it’s been five years since what I consider to be one of those best zombie apocalypse movie ever made came out and divided the audience (many of my colleagues and friends didn’t like it). I’m not saying that just because The dead don’t die is currently one of those best movies on netflix I want to start rejoicing, but hear me out…

Bill Murray in The Dead Don't Die — (Image credit: Focus Features)

I feel like I was one of the few people who actually liked The Dead Don’t Die Back In 2019

When The dead don’t die came out, I remember being so excited to tell people how much I loved the unusual zombie movie about a town dealing with an army of ghouls, and then immediately feeling sad when all but one of my friends liked it. It wasn’t just in my circle either, as the film has 54% on Rotten tomatoes Tomatometer and 38% on the Popcornmeter (fanscore).

Digging further into the matter, I went back to see what my colleagues at CinemaBlend thought about it at the time. Although we gave the movie a 3/5 rating in our official The dead don’t die reviewit was the highest score among the staff. The average score was only 2.4/5, which was worse than Men in Black Internationalanother film that opened the same weekend.

Do I have bad taste or was pretty much everyone else unable to see the best in an awkward horror comedy starring Bill Murray, Adam Driver and Selena Gomez?

Two zombies wearing makeup in The Dead Don't Die

(Image credit: Focus Functions)

But now Jim Jarmusch’s off-beat zombie comedy is one of the most popular movies on Netflix

I watched the movie once or twice after checking it out the first time, but I had pretty much put it in the back of my mind. It became like one of those movies that I would only think of when talking about Adam Driver’s best movies or when Sturgill Simpson’s “The Dead Don’t Die” was playing on Spotify.

So you can probably imagine how shocked and excited I was when I happened to see the star-studded zombie flick near the top of Netflix’s trending list. Like, what’s going on here? How did this random movie that only a small group of people (myself included) enjoyed five years ago become more popular than Barbie and Megan Fox’s sexy robot movie? But hey, I’m not trying to make sense, I’m just glad more people are willing to watch Bill Murray calmly handles a zombie outbreak after all these years.

Danny Glover, Bill Murray and Adam Driver in The Dead Don't Die

(Image credit: Focus Functions)

I’m so glad people can finally see The Dead Don’t Die’s ridiculously stacked cast in action

When it comes to zombie movies (or horror movies in general) with massive casts, this one is in a league of its own. Bill Murray, Adam Driver and Chloë Sevigny all play cops, Tilda Swinton plays a katana-wielding funeral director, Danny Glover plays a hardware store owner, Selena Gomez and a pre-Elvis Austin Butler plays young travelers, Iggy Pop, RZA and Tom Waits play random characters, and Carol Kane plays a drunken zombie looking for a bottle of chardonnay.

And that’s just part of the cast. I’m glad people can finally see these actors take on (or become) zombies. Sure, some of the line delivery sounds like the actors were reading their lines for the first time, but that certainly adds to the charm of what I’ve long considered one of best horror comedy movie ever. Everyone in this film, even actors more associated with dramatic roles, look like they’re having the time of their lives.

Selena Gomez in The Dead Don't Die

(Image credit: Focus Functions)

Maybe people are finally coming around to the film’s awkward and self-referential tone

The dead don’t die is an extreme meta film. As one of the most meta horror films I have ever seen and that aspect adds so much to the film. I’m just glad that now more people are experiencing it themselves. Does that mean they all like it? No, probably not. But people see it as crazy.

There are scenes throughout where the characters refer to being in a movie by talking about the title song, but there’s also a moment near the end where the driver’s officer Ronnie Peterson tells Murray’s Cliff Roberton that he knew things were going to end badly , because he read it in the script “Jim” gave him. He’s facing death and Driver is sitting there with this awkward, deadpan delivery, talking about the script. Brilliant!

Adam Driver and Bill Murray in The Dead Don't Die

(Image credit: Focus Features)

And can we all agree that Sturgill Simpson’s The Dead Don’t Die theme song is absolute perfection?

I don’t know how many people know this, but Sturgill Simpson can write a damn good song. He’s released some of my favorite albums of the last decade and a half, and his title track here is honestly one of the finest additions to his discography. The song is used several times throughout the film, including a rather transfixing scene with Selena Gomez driving down a lonely country road.

Sounding like an old gospel song like “What Are They Doing in Heaven Today,” this wonderfully composed and performed country number is perfect even without the context of the movie. Simpson’s “Breakers Roar” from his 2016 LP, A Sailor’s Guide to Earthwas used masterfully in a Absolutely fantastic scene Civil war earlier this year, and although “The dead don’t die” is used more comically to fit the tone of the zombie film, it has a similar enchanting effect that helps the scene slide along.

And if you haven’t already, this song is a great introduction to the work of one of the greatest and most inventive country singers alive today.

There are many upcoming zombie movie coming, but I doubt we’ll see anything like it The dead don’t die anytime soon, or ever again. But it’s not all bad news as we’re blessed with this silly mess of a good time.

Stream The Dead Don’t Die on Netflix.