Sundance Movie Competition 2025 Evaluation: Zombie Dramedy Did not Die

Simply if you suppose filmmakers have exhausted each doable tackle zombies, a brand new film comes alongside to remind you that there are nonetheless fresh stories ready to creep out of the grave. An io9 review stated almost the identical factor about Dealing with the Undead, which performed the Sundance Movie Competition in 2024—and 2025’s presently underway occasion has a equally offbeat zombie story in Didn’t Die.

Set two years after an unspecified outbreak remodeled many of the inhabitants into “biters,” Didn’t Die introduces us to Vinita (a charismatic Kiran Deol), whose essential coping mechanism is creating her “podcast”—which is definitely broadcast over the radio, since there’s no web within the post-apocalypse. She dwells inside a tough shell crafted largely of sarcasm; it’s allowed her to face her dystopian new actuality with an upbeat spirit, although she additionally clings to the comforting information that whereas her mother and father could be out of the image, her brothers are nonetheless a giant a part of her life.

After time spent touring round interviewing fellow survivors for the podcast, which can be titled Didn’t Die, Vinita and youthful brother Rish (Vishal Vijayakumar) have returned to their hometown, extra particularly to their childhood residence, to stick with older brother Hari (Samrat Chakrabarti) and his spouse, Barbara (Katie McCuen). They’re doomsday-prepped in that they seemingly have loads of meals stockpiled, and their existence feels comparatively safe, all issues thought of.

The comfortable establishment will get a shake-up when Vinita’s much-despised ex Vincent (George Basil) reveals up with a child—not his, however a foundling spared when her household was killed. That requires some awkward adjusting, however there’s additionally one other, extra pressing shift in circumstances: biters, which had been previously strictly nocturnal, have advanced and at the moment are rising within the daylight.

Most of Didn’t Die is filmed in black and white, echoing again to George Romero’s Evening of the Residing Useless—the grandaddy of zombie movies that’s additionally referenced right here by naming a personality Barbara, and by having many of the motion happen in an remoted nation home. However whereas Evening of the Residing Useless targeted on a bunch of strangers who should frantically work collectively to outlive, all whereas not likely understanding what they’re up in opposition to, Didn’t Die digs into the emotional toll of an ongoing catastrophe, as skilled by a household that will not all the time agree on technique, however shares a deep love.

Didn’t Die‘s script, by director Meera Menon and co-writer Paul Gleason, attracts inspiration from the real-life pandemic, particularly the wide selection of reactions it pulled out of individuals. For Rish, it’s concern; Hari is overly protecting; Vincent chooses self-isolation; Barbara takes a sudden curiosity in crafting; and Vinita turns into fixated on her podcast—although even she admits “No person advised me the apocalypse was gonna be so boring.”

Residing within the residence the place they grew up, the siblings can’t assist however slip again into nostalgia, which Didn’t Die illustrates with gauzy, comfortable flashbacks. However regardless of fleeting moments of pleasure in lockdown, there are literal monsters prowling round exterior, and as Vinita herself tells her listeners, it’s vital to dwell for the longer term, reasonably than wallowing in reminiscences of what can by no means be once more.

Although it doesn’t ship many outright frights, Didn’t Die does an admirable job of capturing the unease of “unprecedented instances,” with a very eerie sound design that conveys the ambient night-time noise of hungry howls from each path. The characters have turn into used to it after listening to it for therefore lengthy, but it surely’s freaky all the identical. Didn’t Die additionally, maybe surprisingly, has doses of humor sprinkled all through, with welcome moments that preserve the characters’ monochromatic world from feeling too gloomy.

Didn’t Die premiered on the 2025 Sundance Movie Competition; it doesn’t but have a launch date.

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