‘Didn’t Die’ Has a Mic but Lacks a Pulse [Sundance 2025 Review]
At its Sundance premiere, writer and director Meera Menon likened Didn’t Die to Before Sunrise, a film I consider one of the most intimate and unique love stories ever produced. And, like her film, the comparison feels misguided. While the two projects share a lo-fi grit, the comparison ends there. The romance here is half-baked, if not non-existent, and its emotional gravity is left roaming the moon. Worst of all, the film’s bare genre influences are about surface-level aesthetics, and it never seems interested in picking up the shovel to break any ground.
The premise of Menon’s project is promising: a podcast host clings to an ever-shrinking audience during a zombie apocalypse. Vinita (Kiran Deol) uses snark and ironic distance as her armor in this world overrun by “biters.” When her philandering ex, Vincent (George Basil), arrives clutching a baby, her carefully curated detachment begins to unravel. It has the makings of a character-driven genre piece, yet what unfolds is a film that feels as lost as its protagonist.
Right off the bat, we’re introduced to a blonde character named Barbara in a black-and-white zombie apocalypse film. This writing is akin to a slasher movie character given the last name Carpenter. It’s an eye-roll-inducing pedestrian reference that would have been much better left at the door. Worse still, Didn’t Die seems entirely uninterested in horror or what the genre offers. It carries all the aesthetic references to Night of the Living Dead without tension, atmosphere, or dread. This horror film seems to have a distaste for horror, and I have to wonder if it was made out of the opportunities the genre provides rising independent talent.
Then there’s the podcast trope, which has been wrung dry in cinema and television. Instead of a subversion, Didn’t Die leans into every cliché. The sheer number of times the word “podcast” is uttered is irritating, pulling me further away from the film each time I hear it. And yet, this isn’t even the film’s biggest writing flaw. The dialogue is often juvenile, filled with moments that aim for profundity but land with the awkwardness of a high schooler discovering dramatic irony. The humor is equally unrefined, like a teenager making blowjob jokes not long after they learned the term exists.
Vanita’s glammed-out mug also often left me distracted. Like the high heels of Jurassic World, her glamour is pointedly unaligned with the grim reality the film portrays. At times, I’m also left wondering about the choice to present the film in black and white. The most cynical possibility I can think of is that it might mask some of its amateurish execution. While some shots are beautifully photographed, the visual cohesion is undermined by jarringly rough effects and crass transitions. And the rain effects? They look like AI-generated clip art, giving the feeling of a student-made film.
While most of Didn’t Die frustrated me as a horror fan, it has high notes worth mentioning. The film is at its best when it focuses on Vishal Vijayakumar, who plays Rish, a character whose anxiety and suffering feel tangible in a world without much emotional authenticity. His performance is an emotional anchor until the film’s clunky climax, making it all the more frustrating when other characters don’t believe he’s seen daywalkers—a bizarre choice considering they all live in a confirmed zombie apocalypse.
For all its faults, Didn’t Die, it’s important to stress that it occasionally looks stunning. Some shots feel lifted straight from a high-end commercial, offering a visual polish that clashes with its otherwise rough execution. But the film’s obsession with being clever, paired with its misjudged humor and lack of horror instincts ultimately sink it.
The worst crime of Didn’t Die is failing to engage with the genre it lazily attempts to reference. Watching it, I couldn’t help but think of Pontypool. This masterful low-budget horror film follows a broadcast-centered narrative with ingenuity, tension, and a genuine love for horror. Didn’t Die feels like a film made by people with no passion for the genre and may have used it for opportunistic means.
To quote Vinita: “No one told me the apocalypse would be this boring.”
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Didn't Die
Summary
While ‘Didn’t Die’ does show some promising talent, its influences are painfully surface-level, it never picks up its shovel to break any new ground and seems frankly disinterested in the horror genre as a whole.
