'She Dies Tomorrow' Review
R: Language, some sexual references, drug use, and bloody images. Runtime: 1 Hr and 42 MinutesProduction Company: Rustic FilmsDistributor: NEONDirector: Amy SeimetzWriter: Amy SeimetzCast: Kate Lyn Sheil, Jane Adams, Kentucker Audley, Katie Aselton, Chris Messina, Tunde Adebimpe, Jennifer Kim, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Michelle Rodriguez, Josh Lucas, Adam WingardRelease Date: July 31, 2020
Amy thinks she's dying tomorrow… and it's contagious.
Fun fact: She Dies Tomorrow was the last — and I mean last — movie I saw in a theater. Okay, it wasn’t really a theater per se, but more like a screening room in Manhattan the day before SXSW got canceled because of COVID-19. When writer/director Amy Seimetz introduced her film at the screening, she commented on how its major themes were unintentionally relevant to the state of the world as it was (and still is). Let me remind you that this screening occurred in early March and the movie was purchased by NEON and given a release date of early August. A lot has happened since then, such as living in quarantine, which has negatively affected the mental wellbeing of many people. As one of the first viewers of She Dies Tomorrow, I’ll tell you firsthand that this movie perfectly encapsulates the overarching fear of death, especially in the year 2020 when everyone is… well… dying. She Dies Tomorrow is bizarre in the sense that I initially enjoyed the film, but it stuck with me to the point where I literally think about it every single day. The more time passes by, the more I appreciate it. I truly admire how the film’s relevancy increases with each passing day. She Dies Tomorrow follows Amy (Kate Lyn Sheil), a woman living in California who is certain that she’s going to die the next day. She’s not referencing suicide; she simply believes some unmovable force in the universe is going to kill her. Amy’s friend Jane (Jane Adams) decides to go check on her wellbeing and a domino effect erupts. Whoever interacts with a person who believes they’re dying the next day suddenly believes that they’re also going to die.
Kate Lyn Sheil delivers a stellar performance while perfectly depicting depression, and not just the external sad, raspy, monotonous-sounding depression, but the kind of depression where you’re lounging, doing nothing with your life while your face reads, “Yo, Death, come get me.” Though Sheil is great in the film, Jane Adams steals the show and takes it in another direction. As the film progresses, the story shifts to Jane. The situations she gets into are hysterical, especially the dynamic she shares with Chris Messina and Katie Aselton. She becomes a proactive character who reigns in terms of comedy. Because of its themes of existential thanatophobia, Siemetz adds creative details like dark, crisp neon lighting as a means of displaying the mood when characters are consumed by their fear of dying, while also utilizing it as a running joke. The best thing about the film is its slow-burn pace. It starts tense and unnerving but becomes more comedic as it progresses. However, every laugh is accompanied by a large sigh because you’re caught up in the tense atmosphere. God, talk about a movie that encapsulates the mood of the world at the moment.
Several new characters are introduced when She Dies Tomorrow takes on a more comedic tone. It retains its slow pace, but the tonal shift that occurs when the film returns to Amy is jarring. The mood that surrounds Amy is distressing; it’s hard to transition from the absurdist humor to the dramatic elements and back. The tone has its fair share of unbalanced moments and by the third act, the novelty starts to run out of steam.That being said, writer/director Amy Siemetz never loses sight of the message she wants to convey and executes it in the most relatable manner possible. My initial rating for She Dies Tomorrow would've been a 3/5, after feeling so personally attuned with the film’s themes, it’s a solid 4-star movie.Rating: 4/5 | 80%
