Meera Menon’s Didn’t Die: movie review

Meera Menon’s Didn’t Die attempts to challenge the conventions of the zombie film, but finds itself lacking in thrills. I happen to think that a little on-the-set action- the actors drop in with us to experience a world already on the verge of destruction, where a nameless outbreak is nudging the survivors away from each other. The Covid-19 pandemic rings faint yet unmistakably haunting in the ears, reinforced by one of the characters as he narrowly escapes a damned fate of meeting with one of those ‘biters’ on-screen. The creatures emerged two years ago when the world was asleep and in total darkness, and now they are slowly crawling into the sunshine as a brutal second wave.

The film has a strong premise, interlacing horror with themes of loss and survival; however, it gradually loses touch with its own character-building elements anytime the emotional path towards losing the loved one and finding a community is attempted to be captured.
Though the action was kept in the background to develop the character-driven narrative, the film suffered from a very leisurely pace and cliched plot twists that robbed it of any engagement. The beautiful visuals are disrupted by flashes of brilliance from the director, but the screenplay lacks much else than dreary imitation.

Darkly humorous as it attempts to be, Didn’t Die often seems rushed, a feeling exacerbated by the tonal imbalance it cannot sustain. Balancing the tension between Vinita’s sharp, sardonic wit and the urgency required by her storyline is no easy task. Hari and Barbara’s story turn towards emotion, particularly as Vinita’s pragmatism begins to unravel.

At heart, the film asserts that laughter is a way of coping with loss, which might be true in some cases, but one truly can shine when it arises organically, rather than when it is underlined in the most overt way. After all, misplaced laughter can often do more harm than silence. Still, Meera Menon’s remarks largely eschew familiar tropes when addressing the South Asian American agenda, and yet she retains the option of making it an agenda in and of itself.

We get a glimpse of intensity from the performances, particularly from the lead actors, but that alone cannot make this film a cut above the tropes it embodies. In terms of the zombie horror element, it wholly underwhelms with very few scares and sequences that linger in memory.

In the end, Didn’t Die is a well-intended but mediocre addition to the zombie genre that generates some intrigue but fails to provide lasting impact. The film is bursting with ideas, but its potential is slightly constrained by the underutilization of its genre elements. In Menon’s conception, the tropes of horror become more of a backdrop than an actual force, stifling views into the projects’ more expansive themes. Nevertheless, with the few weaknesses this modest film has, it is firmly on the right side of the track; it just needed a bit more punch.

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