I love a zany whodunnit. Films like Clue, Werewolves Within, and Bodies Bodies Bodies are my happy place. So, I was giddy when I saw that Fantasia had one hailing all the way from India. I requested the screener and eagerly buckled myself in for what I hoped would be a fun little murder mystery. While writer-director Pratul Gaikwad seems to be having fun, Dead Dead Full Dead is not the movie I expected.
Dead Dead Full Dead follows two inept police officers who are having a secret affair and are called to the scene of a murder. Someone killed an astrology influencer, but it is hard to figure out who did it when everyone has a motive. To make matters even more chaotic, the victim returns from the afterlife but refuses to help solve her murder as well. There is a lot of fun to be had with the premise, and the actors seem to be having a good time with the material. However, it is not all easy sailing for the final product.
A Fantastic Tale
One of the things that hurts and harms this charming tale is that anything goes. We enter into the world as magical elements are being introduced rapidly. As a recovering theater kid, I love the fusion of the fantastical into any genre, so this was one thing that kept me consistently leaning in as I watched this story unfold. However, we also get a very specific type of humor that sometimes lands and sometimes feels too broad. As someone who only recently started coming around to comedies, I assume the mileage of many jokes will vary for each person but will go further for most people.
I also love a movie that is hard to predict. This is especially appreciated here, as Dead Dead Full Dead has a run time of 110 minutes. I would have been salty had I known where it was going from the beginning, like so many other movies I have seen this year. However, I could not predict where this story was going because we have so many things fighting for our attention. We have Balraam (Yug Italiya) and Zubeida’s (Monica Chaudhary) relationship and their investigation into the murder. We have Era (Swastika Mukherjee), who is back from the dead but unhelpful. There are also three suspects, who all have motives, means, and their own stories.
Then we have Mr. Patil (Abhijeet Chavan), the supervisor to Balraam and Zubeida, who is also not good at his job. He is trying to save his marriage and has a magic hand. Even the goat, which Mr. Patil hopes will save his marriage, has a journey. I don’t usually mind having multiple threads, but it does start to feel a little too crowded in this particular film.
Is It Too Many Ingredients?
While this kooky fusion of classism, murder mystery, astrology, romance, and comedy is way too many things in the pot at times, it also has this charm that forces you to root for it. Every time another layer was added, I asked why as I leaned further in. I wish I could say it all came together in a way that made it make sense. However, the best I can offer is that it is a loveable mess. There is something infectious here that works in the favor of Dead Dead Full Dead.
Maybe it is the cast commitment to the bits, even the ones that fall flat. Or, possibly because it is a refreshing change in the sea of whodunnits with almost exclusively white casts. Whatever the case, I am not mad that I watched it, even though I cannot say I love it. It is an example of a fine enough film. Which is more than many movies have going for them these days.
We caught Dead Dead Full Dead at Fantasia Film Festival. Let us know if you’ve also caught this gem at @horrormovieblog.
