**Fellowship of the Reel podcast episode reviewing *The Dead Don’t Die* (2019, Jim Jarmusch).** Four friends (Phil as host/picker, plus James, Sherry, and Chris) talk through the movie after a Bill Murray quote quiz and box-office/ratings context. ### Setup and reception They note the film’s messy genre tags (action, comedy, horror, sci-fi, etc.), modest budget (~$2.5–6M) and worldwide gross (~$15.3M), Rotten Tomatoes scores (critics ~55%, audience ~38%), and IMDb 5.4. Fan reviews they read call it boring, plotless, or “the worst movie ever.” Phil argues many viewers expected a conventional zombie movie and didn’t get one. ### Core argument: anti-plot Phil frames the film using Sean Coyne / Story Grid ideas: most movies are “arch plots” (Save the Cat–style three-act structure with causality, character change, and a closed ending). *The Dead Don’t Die* is an **anti-plot**—it breaks conventions on purpose (weak causality, no consistent reality, characters who don’t change, fourth-wall breaks, aliens dropped in late). That puts it on the thin tails of the audience “bell curve,” which helps explain the poor scores. They contrast it with films like *Wayne’s World*, *Memento*, and *Eternal Sunshine*. ### Plot and “beats” they force onto it They walk the story while admitting they’re forcing arch-plot labels onto something that resists them: - Sleepy Centerville, polar fracking, odd daylight, missing pets. - First zombies (Iggy Pop, etc.) at the diner; “I’m thinking zombies.” - Townspeople and zombies chasing old vices (coffee, Wi-Fi, Snapple, guitar). - Zelda Winston (Tilda Swinton) as detached Scottish samurai/undertaker who later boards a UFO. - Meta bits: Adam Driver’s Ronnie has read the script and keeps saying it won’t end well; Bill Murray’s Cliff only got his pages; they still follow the script to their deaths. - Supporting characters die or vanish (Danny Glover, Steve Buscemi’s farmer, Selena Gomez/Austin Butler teens). - Climax: cops go out fighting in the cemetery; Hermit Bob (Tom Waits) watches from the woods and monologues about consumerism. Easter eggs they mention include *Night of the Living Dead* car and TV flashes, Sturgill Simpson’s theme (and guitar zombie), and Wu-Tang/RZA as the “WUPS” delivery guy. ### Themes and criticism of Jarmusch They spend a lot of time on consumerism, spiritual deadness, and whether Jarmusch is angry at mainstream audiences and his own modest box office (*Broken Flowers* is cited as his biggest hit). Polar fracking and a “Keep America White Again” hat get political readings. Several hosts feel the message is preachy (especially Hermit Bob’s closer) and that breaking rules to poke the audience is less clever than *They Live*, *Fight Club*, or *American Psycho*. They also dunk on *Asteroid City* as an even more painful “nothing happens” movie. ### Verdict All four land on **consider**, not pass: strong cast (Murray, Driver, Swinton, Buscemi, Tom Waits, etc.), look and tone, dry humor, and zombie-movie appeal—if you go in knowing it’s weird, meta, and not a standard Romero/Walking Dead story. They would not call it a must-watch or a hidden masterpiece.
