The Dead Don’t Die includes many characters who die after the small sleepy town of Centerville is invaded by zombies. The cast of The Dead Don’t Die comprises an ensemble of renowned actors such as Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Danny Glover, and Adam Driver, who bring director Jim Jarmusch’s story to life. At its core, The Dead Don’t Die is an enjoyable zombie movie. However, the elements of comedy in the film make it a parody of the genre.
Released in 2019, Adam Driver’s zombie film has recently seen a resurgence after being added to Netflix. The Dead Don’t Die was launched to the top of Netflix’s rankings once it was readily available to widespread audiences. Despite The Dead Don’t Die being a comedy, it still features the violence and gore that is often seen in zombie movies, making for an entertaining and dark combination of genres.
14
Fern (Eszter Balint)
Fern Is The First Character Killed By A Zombie
Fern is the first character who is killed by a zombie in The Dead Don’t Die, kicking off the chain of events that leads to other people being eaten alive by the undead creatures. When she is done for the day and is ready to go home, Fern, a waitress at the local diner, is attacked by two zombies who enter the small eatery looking for coffee. After opening the door, a female zombie tackles Fern to the floor and consumes her.
Fern’s death should have been the moment Cliff and Ronnie deduced that something was wrong, since several other odd things had happened in the town before she died. However, the two police officers conclude that she was attacked by “animals, or several animals,” a phrase that becomes a running joke as more people die in the movie.
13
Lily (Rosal Colon)
Lily Is Eaten By A Zombie
Lily, who works with Fern in the diner, is the second person to be killed by a zombie. When the female zombie is attacking Fern, the male zombie goes for Lily as she is cleaning the floor. She’s quick to realize that she is in danger and hails abuse at the zombie, trying to get him to stay away from her.
Unlike Fern, Lily puts up a fight when the zombie tries to eat her. She uses a mop to try and defend herself, but her efforts are futile since the undead creature manages to take the mop away from her before killing her. Both Lily and Fern’s dismembered bodies are discovered the next day by Hank.
12
Mallory (Carol Kane)
Mallory Is Decapitated By Ronnie
While most of the characters in The Dead Don’t Die are killed by zombies, Mallory is the only one who is already dead in the movie. Known as the town drunk, Mallory dies while she is in a cell at the police station after spending the night there. Since Cliff didn’t yet know that the dead were waking up, he slept at the police station next to Mallory’s dead body.
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Later during the day, Mallory wakes up as a zombie. Although Mallory doesn’t necessarily try to kill the police officers, the fact that she is now a member of the undead means they are in danger. Cliff tries to shoot her with a shotgun but fails. Ronnie takes over and severs her head with a machete.
11
Danny (Larry Fessenden)
Danny Dies While Searching For His Cats
One of the things that signals the zombie invasion in The Dead Don’t Die is that animals start acting skittish, go missing, or become aggressive. Danny, who owns several cats, notices that his cats are nowhere to be seen when he tries to give them their food. As he watches the news, he realizes that it might not only be him whose pets have gone missing.
He tries to bring up the fact that he hasn’t seen his cats with Cliff, but given everything going on in Centerville, his missing pets are not really the priority. Since no one will help look for his cats, Danny goes out in the dark to search for them when he is attacked by zombies who are out looking for free cable TV. After his death, Danny rises and becomes a zombie.
10
Dean (RZA)
Dean Is Killed Off-Screen
Dean doesn’t have a lot of screen time in The Dead Don’t Die. However, the few moments he is seen alive show him as a caring and loving character due to the few interactions he has with Bobby. Dean is also known for dropping nuggets of wisdom that the movie-loving Bobby seems to depend on.
After delivering a package to Bobby’s hardware store, Dean isn’t seen alive in The Dead Don’t Die again. The next time Dean appears in the film, he is among the horde of zombies in a grocery store. Given that the delivery man is a zombie, it’s safe to surmise that he was eaten by the undead creatures and then later rose again as one of them.
9
Bobby (Caleb Landry Jones)
Bobby Is Eaten By A Horde Of Zombies
Bobby is the town nerd with vast movie knowledge. Due to his love for films, he is the one who tells the residents of Centerville that zombies can only be killed by decapitation. Because Bobby is the most knowledgeable about zombies, it initially seems like he would be one of the few people who would be alive by the conclusion of The Dead Don’t Die.
Despite his best efforts, Bobby doesn’t survive the zombie apocalypse. He makes a rookie mistake when he underestimates the determination of the undead, thinking that he can survive if he locks himself away. Unfortunately, Bobby meets his end after a horde of zombies invades his hardware store where he and Frank are hiding.
8
Hank (Danny Glover)
Hank Dies After Zombies Break Into Bobby’s Store
Since Hank is the one who finds Lily and Fern’s bodies, it’s not surprising that he takes the zombie invasion seriously. When Bobby tells Hank how to kill the zombies, he immediately believes him and takes his advice to heart. He actually goes further by getting a bunch of weapons he could use to decapitate the undead creatures and allies himself with the knowledgeable Bobby, hoping he will survive.
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Like Bobby, Hank quickly realizes that barring himself in the hardware store isn’t the smart thing to do. Although zombies are undead and don’t look like they are strong, they do have inhuman strength and durability given that they manage to break through the barriers in Bobby’s store and kill both of the characters hiding out there.
7
Zack (Luka Sabbat)
Zack Is Killed Off-Screen By A Zombie
Played by Grown-ish‘s Luka Sabbat, Zack is one of three characters in The Dead Don’t Die who isn’t a resident of Centerville. While on a road trip with his friends, he discovers that the phones and other devices, including radios, aren’t working. The three friends make a stop in Centerville for gas, not knowing that they will die there.
During their time in Centerville, Zack, Jack, and Zoe decide to spend the night at a motel in the town. The last time Zack is seen alive, he and his friends are outside the motel looking for breakfast after talking to Ronnie, Danny, and Cliff. The police officers are the ones who find the three of them dead in their room, where Ronnie proceeds to hack him with a machete to prevent Zack from turning into a zombie.
6
Zoe (Selena Gomez)
Zoe Is Eaten By Zombies
Zoe also isn’t a resident of Centerville. During the few moments she is on-screen, it’s easy to notice that she is a caring person, given how kind she is to Bobby. While in the small town, she knows that something is amiss in the world and even jokes about Centerville being invaded by zombies.
After getting change from Ronnie and buying snacks from the vending machine, Zoe goes to hang out with her friends in the motel, which is the last time she is seen alive. Her death isn’t shown in the film, but since Ronnie, Cliff, and Mindy find her dismembered, she was obviously eaten by zombies.
5
Jack (Austin Butler)
Jack Dies In His Motel Room
Rounding up the trio of traveling friends is Jack, played by Austin Butler in one of his best movies. Jack has an easygoing demeanor and seems to get along with the people he encounters in Centerville. Like his friends, Jack meets his demise in his motel room. In a way, Jack believes the threat from the zombies is serious, although he doesn’t outright behave in a way that shows it.
Jack is killed off-screen by zombies but doesn’t get a chance to become an undead creature, seeing as Ronnie also decapitates him. Since the deaths of the three friends are not shown, there’s no way to know which zombie killed them. However, after Danny turns into a zombie, he keeps saying Cleveland, the city Ronnie surmises the three friends are from. So, it’s likely that he is the one who ate Jack, Zack, and Zoe.
4
Frank (Steve Buscemi)
Frank Is Overpowered By The Undead
A small town like Centerville always has a person all the residents don’t like. In The Dead Don’t Die, Frank is that character. Frank initially notices that his chickens are missing, and blames it on Hermit Bob. However, when he realizes that even his cows are missing, he deduces that his initial conclusion is wrong and that something else might have taken his animals.
Although Ronnie and Cliff know that Centerville is experiencing a zombie accomplice, they don’t immediately warn Frank on account of how they feel about him. But when zombies attack the farmer, he holds his own and manages to decapitate them with his shotgun. The second time Frank encounters zombies, he isn’t so lucky. His death isn’t shown in the film, but since he rises as a zombie, it’s safe to say he was also killed by one.
3
Mindy (Chloë Sevigny)
Mindy Dies Off-Screen
Of the three police officers in Centerville, Mindy is the one who is most disturbed by the zombie attacks. When they discover Lily and Fern’s bodies, Cliff and Ronnie aren’t phased by what they are witnessing. However, Lily retches after seeing what has been done to her friends, which is the correct way to react to such a gruesome sight.
For most of the movie, Mindy is either trailing after Cliff and Ronnie or helping the residents of her town. Her final moments as a human are not shown in the movie, so how she dies is a mystery. The last time Mindy is seen is in a field with zombies where she has become one of the undead, before being killed by Ronnie, who isn’t hesitant to kill her despite the two of them having a close relationship.
2
Ronnie (Adam Driver)
Ronnie Is Eaten By Zombies
Adam Driver’s Ronnie is the one who has his wits about him and often gives Cliff advice. After things begin to change in Centerville, Ronnie is quick to point out that it might end badly, something his boss doesn’t seem to grasp. Ronnie isn’t averse to violence, as proven by his mercilessly decapitating Zoe and her friends. But ultimately, that doesn’t keep him alive in the end.
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From the start, Ronnie seems sure that they will all die, something Cliffs points out in the final scenes of the film, to which he responds that he read Jim’s script. After witnessing Zelda (Tilda Swinton) going onto a spaceship, the two police officers head into the field of zombies. Ronnie chops Mindy’s head off before all the zombies proceed to attack and then eat him.
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Cliff (Bill Murray)
Cliff Is The Last Person To Die In The Dead Don’t Die
For a while, Chief Cliff Robertson chalks up the zombie attacks in The Dead Don’t Die as being done by “animals, or several animals.” It’s this reasoning that puts even more people in danger. Even when Ronnie continually says that things are going to end badly, Cliff is slow to act. Although Cliff is one of the main characters, he ends up dying, a fitting ending given how long it took him to take the zombie attacks seriously. In his final moments, Cliff is hesitant to kill his friends who have become zombies, but they have no such qualms.
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11
5.4/10
The Dead Don’t Die
R
ComedyHorror
The Dead Don’t Die is a horror comedy released in 2019, directed by Jim Jarmusch. The Dead Don’t Die focuses on a small town in Centerville that struggles to battle off hordes of zombies after the dead come back to life. The film has a star-studded cast, including Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Steve Buscemi, and Danny Glover.
Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
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*Availability in US
Release Date
June 14, 2019
Cast
Tom Waits
, Selena Gomez
, Austin Butler
, Adam Driver
, Chloe Sevigny
, Bill Murray
, Danny Glover
, Tilda Swinton
, Steve Buscemi
, Caleb Landry Jones
, Iggy Pop
Director
Jim Jarmusch
Runtime
103minutes
Writers
Jim Jarmusch
Studio(s)
Focus Features
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