When you take a Murder Mystery wrapped in a Metaphysical Comedy you get Dead Dead Full Dead. The wonderfully deranged film premiered at Fantasia 2024.
Writer/Director Pratul Gaikwad has created a Murder Mystery so devilishly delightful that one won’t care “Who did it?”
Strange things are afoot in the middle of the night. Two less than bright Police Officers Balraam (Yug Italiya) and Zubeida (Monica Chaudhary) are called to a call that a woman was recently murdered by her husband. The woman Era (Swastika Mukherjee) appears to have been stabbed in the back by her husband Rahul (Ashwin Mushran)… this this is only the beginning as Era has apparently come back from the dead. What begins as a murder mystery changes to something trickier as everyone from our two police officers, the husband, the housekeeper (Sachin Vidrohi), the neighbor who put in the call (Flora Jacob), and the officer’s supervisor (Abhijeet Chavan) are all complicit in Era’s murder – or are they?
Dead Dead Full Dead is the type of film that untethers an audience member quickly as it never plays by conventional rules. The film uses the Murder Mystery conventions to confuse and delight with no clue as to where the next turn of events will take you. Writer/Director Gaikwad has created a film so delightfully and wickedly obtuse that even Charlie Kauffman would have to smile. Instead of the bodies piling up, the murderers of a single victim pile up until no one is left innocent – all seemingly having taken part in Era’s murder. Even Era herself is not just a victim but perpetrator.
Though it seems confounding, and it is in sections, the way that the film plays for genuine laughs is what holds everything together. There is a huge darkly funny streak at the center of this meditation on life and death. Though at times an audience member may be as lost as those within the film, it never becomes so cloudy as to lose the narrative thread.
Dead Dead Full Dead is the type of murder mystery comedy for those who deeply love the genre and understand its troupes and conventions. It is both a valentine to the genre and something entirely new. Even if one is not a fan of the genre, the film is so sharply executed, it can be appreciated and enjoyed. This one isn’t to be missed.
Once you have seen it, we can talk about the goat. You’ll understand later…
When you take a Murder Mystery wrapped in a Metaphysical Comedy you get Dead Dead Full Dead. The wonderfully deranged film premiered at Fantasia 2024.
Writer/Director Pratul Gaikwad has created a Murder Mystery so devilishly delightful that one won’t care “Who did it?”
Strange things are afoot in the middle of the night. Two less than bright Police Officers Balraam (Yug Italiya) and Zubeida (Monica Chaudhary) are called to a call that a woman was recently murdered by her husband. The woman Era (Swastika Mukherjee) appears to have been stabbed in the back by her husband Rahul (Ashwin Mushran)… this this is only the beginning as Era has apparently come back from the dead. What begins as a murder mystery changes to something trickier as everyone from our two police officers, the husband, the housekeeper (Sachin Vidrohi), the neighbor who put in the call (Flora Jacob), and the officer’s supervisor (Abhijeet Chavan) are all complicit in Era’s murder – or are they?
Dead Dead Full Dead is the type of film that untethers an audience member quickly as it never plays by conventional rules. The film uses the Murder Mystery conventions to confuse and delight with no clue as to where the next turn of events will take you. Writer/Director Gaikwad has created a film so delightfully and wickedly obtuse that even Charlie Kauffman would have to smile. Instead of the bodies piling up, the murderers of a single victim pile up until no one is left innocent – all seemingly having taken part in Era’s murder. Even Era herself is not just a victim but perpetrator.
Though it seems confounding, and it is in sections, the way that the film plays for genuine laughs is what holds everything together. There is a huge darkly funny streak at the center of this meditation on life and death. Though at times an audience member may be as lost as those within the film, it never becomes so cloudy as to lose the narrative thread.
Dead Dead Full Dead is the type of murder mystery comedy for those who deeply love the genre and understand its troupes and conventions. It is both a valentine to the genre and something entirely new. Even if one is not a fan of the genre, the film is so sharply executed, it can be appreciated and enjoyed. This one isn’t to be missed.
Once you have seen it, we can talk about the goat. You’ll understand later…
Dead Dead Full Dead played at the Fantasia Film Festival 2024 on July 28th and 30th
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