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‘Didn’t Die’ Review: Pandemic Zom-Com Has All the Right Ideas but Lacks Horror Execution
Meera Menon's sardonic horror comedy 'Didn't Die' hits the right character beats, but can't quite up the ante.
Through her casual, lingering camera, Menon (and husband-writer-cinematographer Paul Gleason) creates withdrawn sensations as Vinita traverses a desolate U.S. landscape during her podcast tour, alongside her meek younger brother Rishi (Vishal Vijayakumar). However, for every bit of action and horror that lacks all impact, Menon creates enticing moments of character-centric comedy when Vinita runs into her wayward ex-boyfriend Vincent, who claims to have turned over a new leaf, and carries with him a baby girl he rescued from a “biter” attack, challenging his inability to commit. While it seems counter-intuitive to harp on what the movie doesn’t do, this absence of familiar tropes paves a wider path along which the characters’ relationships can unfold, between Vinita and Vincent confronting their past, and Hari and Barbara reluctantly planning for a future they may never see.
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