The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema & Tv
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
      • Shows
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureMovie reviews

Why Don’t You Just Die!

Why Don’t You Just Die! | Movie review
20 April 2020
Brady Clark
Avatar
Brady Clark
20 April 2020

Movie and show review

Brady Clark

Why Don't You Just Die!

★★★★★

Release date

20th April 2020

Certificate

UPG121518 title=

A bloody mess seems to come to mind for Kirill Sokolov’s feature debut Why Don’t You Just Die! This gory comedy set in a single location isn’t shy of drilling through the bone, nor does it pull its punches in terms of action. But cranking every inch of violence up to ten cannot save a lifeless plot. 

Vitaliy Khaev is strikingly intimidating as bent Russian copper Andrey, who seems to have angered everyone in his life, including his daughter and her new boyfriend Matvey (Aleksandr Kuznetsov). This has led most of them to want to make an attempt on Andrey’s life.

The cast’s performances are all-round okay, but the clear drive for watching Why Don’t You Just Die! in the first place can only be a love of grit and gore. For a comedy, the laughs are had at a push, and the fight scenes are jarring in their inconsistency, alternating between legitimacy and spoof.

The film certainly has its shocking moments and the visuals won’t leave your mind anytime soon after watching. The cinematic influences on its tone are clear, from In Bruges to Knives Out, Free Fire, and even Meet the Parents. But all of these have one thing that Sokolov seemed to forget, and that’s substance.

The absence of a normal narrative structure is always a risk, one usually taken to avoid beating the same drum over and over, but in this case, we are left with an inert plot that all the gory fight sequences in the world can’t pump life into. 

Yes, the cheap tricks are entertaining. The occasionally John Murphy-esque soundtrack is appropriate and complementary. But hammers, drills and double-barrelled shotguns make Why Don’t You Just Die! sound way more exciting for those who enjoy blood-soaked vengeance than it actually is.

★★★★★

Brady Clark

Why Don’t You Just Die! is released digitally on demand on 20th April 2020.

Watch the trailer for Why Don’t You Just Die! here:

 

Related Itemsreview

More in Movie reviews

Moxie

★★★★★
Emma Kiely
Read More

Notturno

★★★★★
Mersa Auda
Read More

The Winter Lake

★★★★★
Guy Lambert
Read More

Justine

★★★★★
Abbie Grundy
Read More

Lucky

★★★★★
Jacob Kennedy
Read More

Foster Boy

★★★★★
Jim Compton-Hall
Read More

Crazy About Her

★★★★★
Emma Kiely
Read More

Bigfoot Family

★★★★★
Mersa Auda
Read More

Judas and the Black Messiah

★★★★★
James Humphrey
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Movie and show review

Brady Clark

Why Don't You Just Die!

★★★★★

Release date

20th April 2020

Certificate

UPG121518 title=

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Maximo Park – Nature Always Wins
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • I’m Your Man (Ich bin dein Mensch)
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Black Bear
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
  • Your Honor
    ★★★★★
    sky
  • Spotlight: Lauren Everet and Soup Kitchen London, striving for food security and social equality
    Food & Drinks
  • Petite Maman
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Celebrate International Women’s Day with a Bombay Sapphire Cocktails & Create masterclass
    Food & Drinks
  • Postdata – Twin Flames
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Late Night Staring at High Res Pixels
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Daniel Brühl on his directorial debut Next Door: “It was magical; I didn’t get a ‘no’ from anyone.”
    Berlinale
  • Moxie
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Souad
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • We (Nous)
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Bicep at Saatchi Gallery Online
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • The Winter Lake
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

The Thread at Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage | Theatre review
Moffie | Movie review