Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
In the sleepy town of Centerville, the lives of a number of interconnected characters are disrupted by the undead.
Jim Jarmusch's zombie comedy is self-aware and meta to a fault — the fourth-wall breaking and deadpan nihilism feel fresh in concept but the plot meanders without payoff. The all-star ensemble (Murray, Driver, Swinton, etc.) delivers charmingly laconic performances that fit the Jarmusch mold, elevating otherwise thin material. Cinematography is competent and understated in the Jarmusch tradition. The novelty comes from the distinctive authorial voice and dry meta-humor, though it's not among Jarmusch's most inventive works. The ending is deliberately anticlimactic and unsatisfying even for a film courting that aesthetic, leaving audiences feeling short-changed rather than meaningfully subverted.