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‘Didn’t Die’ podcasts through the zombie-pocalypse
If the world was ending, would you do anything differently? Would you, say, stop writing a movie review newsletter and completely change your priorities? Or would you keep plugging away at it because it gave you joy and purpose, even as it became increasingly irrelevant to the world around you? (Hypothetically, of course.)
In Meera Menon’s wry and melancholy “Didn’t Die,” which I saw online at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, Vinita (Kiran Deol) has chosen to just podcast through the zombie apocalypse. Undead creatures nicknamed biters are roaming (slowly roaming) the upstate New York countryside where she’s holed up in her childhood home with her younger brother Rishi (Vishal Vijayakumar), older brother Hari (Samrat Chakrabarti) and Hari’s wife Barbara (Katie McCuen).
While Rishi threats that the zombie threat is getting worse (biters usually only come out at night, but Rishi sees one in daylight) and Hari and Barbara happily drink themselves into oblivion, Vinita’s method of coping is by recording a podcast for survivors called “Didn’t Die.”
It’s bleaky funny to hear someone in full “podcast mode” chat about the unexpected downsides of surviving the zombies (“less hot people around,” she muses wryly), and cheerfully promote the show’s 100th episode. If only Blue Apron were still around to sponsor it. The 100th episode is a live broadcast with a few survivors at the local courthouse, but Vinita’s attempt to get inspiring content from her listeners falls flat. At some point, it gets repetitive to hear people talk about having to kill their undead wives and families.
“Didn’t Die” is by far at its best when it focuses on this sly social commentary, as well as the interpersonal dramas of the three adult siblings. When an old boyfriend of Vinita’s, Vincent (George Basil), shows up with an abandoned infant he rescued, the baby forces all the characters to think more about the future and less about simply surviving another day.
The acting is grounded and understated, and the stark black-and-white cinematography of co-writer Paul Gleason gives the film a haunting luster. I would have liked to see the movie lean in a little more on the podcasting idea, actually, either full-on satirizing hustle culture or exploring Vinita’s podcast as a genuinely meaningful way for humanity to connect with each other.
The one weak spot of this zombie movie, unfortunately, is the zombies. The occasional undead attack that occasionally punctures the family’s bubble looks sloppy and amateurish, breaking the spell of “Didn’t Die.” Worse, the bloody scenes are completely derivative of every other zombie movie every made.
Which is too bad, because otherwise “Didn’t Die” makes great strides to do something truly original with a well-worn genre. Take out those lame zombie attacks, and I’d give it a thumbs up on Apple Podcasts.