“Didn’t Die” is a zombie movie with no zest. No thrill, no stakes, and no meaning. The protagonist, Vinita Malhotra (Kiran Deol), drives around with her brother in their Tesla, recording her podcast, but unfortunately, she keeps losing listeners because zombies keep biting them. Somehow, at the end of the world, each character looked fresh off a photoshoot, rocking a full beat and a fresh blowout or showered with a trimmed beard, sure. Also, somehow, Vinita’s ex-boyfriend shows up with the baby we saw abandoned in the opening sequence. Without leaning further into the superficial absurdity, everything, particularly the script, is forced and forgettable. Every actor is trying their best, and simultaneously, tonally disconnected.
We are introduced to the Malhotra siblings with a shot of one of the brothers kicking a can down the road while posting flyers for the podcast; that’s symbolic of the general waste of time both the subject and the observer endure. Yet, interestingly, the film captures a contemporary, dissonant reality: no matter the circumstance, someone will take any opportunity to advertise their podcast. As we see one of the characters parade up and down a boat dock in full lacrosse gear, wielding a lacrosse stick as their only defense, the stupid and unserious dial turns up a notch.
Director and writer Meera Menon is well-intentioned. She’s trying to juggle an exploration of grief for the loss of a life not lived, the pest-like perseverance of podcasting, and the necessity of human connection. The premise of “Didn’t Die” is questionable but unique and timely; who among us wouldn’t repeat bad jokes while trying to survive another day? However, the story needs massaging and maturing. It’s as if every character is completely nonchalant as to whether they live or die, despite the quickly evolving zombie strength. Shockingly yet fittingly, there is no power in numbers for the humans.
Albeit a low-budget independent flick, Menon takes a big swing. It’s a horror, sci-fi, fantasy, comedy, thriller, and drama movie, and unfortunately, it doesn’t execute any of those genres well. While untethered from the typical unfoldings of a zombie picture, there are still some gory action sequences and a romantic subplot that keep the characters alive longer. A number of “what ifs” could have unfolded, but that would be a different, likely more entertaining movie.
To make matters worse, the cinematography resembles my 2010 Facebook photo albums, except I’ve learned my lesson: I do not need to hold the camera at tilted angles to make the shot more intriguing. Similarly, I don’t think I’ve seen so many dissolve-transition shots since we learned how to use PowerPoint in our middle school computer class. At times, it was all such a blur, which reflects how time passes under the prolonged stress of navigating a zombie takeover and trying to retain an audience for your podcast.
While the black-and-white is an advantage, providing more depth and masking the bad special effects, the colorized leap in time during the story’s resolution fell flat more than the rest of the movie. As Vinita has a wannabe Katniss Everdeen moment on their new zombie-free compound, all danger seems to have dissipated. Notably, we do not see a single zombie, and perhaps the podcast is a thing of the past. I think back to earlier in the film when Vinita proclaims, “Nobody told me that the apocalypse would be so boring!”
