2019 Cannes Critics’ Panel: Day 1 – Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die

A long and rich history with the festival since 1984’s Stranger Than Paradise premiered on the Croisette and won the Caméra d’or 1984, Jim Jarmusch returns to the comp for an eighth time with 72nd film fest edition opener emphasizing the word dead in deadpan The Dead Don’t Die. Coined as “the greatest zombies cast ever disassembled” this Focus Features knee-slapper sees the American indie giant work with Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Caleb Landry Jones, Rosie Perez, Iggy Pop, Selena Gomez, RZA, Sara Driver, Austin Butler, Luka Sabbat, Eszter Balint, Carol Kane and the cooky Tom Waits. Jarmusch won the Grand Jury Prize for Broken Flowers (review), and Short Film Palme d’or in 1993 for Coffee and Cigarettes. This is his thirteenth feature film.

While our critics are still unpacking, settling in/on the plane ride over, there were several screenings for the film including one past eleven and the general consensus from the seven scores we received is that it was a likeable, appeasable, deadpan comedy that is mostly one note, funnily self-aware and a safe bet start for the comp.

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