Dead (film)

Dead is a 2020 New Zealand comedy horror film, starring Tom Sainsbury and Hayden J. Weal.

Plot
Dane 'Marbles' Marbeck can see ghosts with the help of a homemade drug. While out on his day job of connecting people with their deceased loved ones, he's confronted by a freshly dead cop, Officer Jayson Tagg, who wants help hunting his killer.

Cast

 * Tom Sainsbury as Dane 'Marbles' Marbeck
 * Hayden J. Weal as Officer Jayson Tagg
 * Tōmairangi Ihaia as Tana Tagg (Officer Tagg's sister)
 * Jennifer Ward-Lealand as Janine Marbeck (Marbles' mother)
 * Michael Hurst as Ross Marbeck (Marbles' father)

Production
The script was co-written by Sainsbury and Weal, with both also performing the two lead roles. Weal also directed and produced the film.

Release
The film was released in New Zealand in August 2020, and internationally on 6 October 2020.

The film was later released as an eight-part web series. In New Zealand, the series is available to view on TVNZ's free-to-air streaming service TVNZ+.

Reception
Kate Rodger of Newshub praised the film, stating that it had great performances and a cracking script. Rodger wrote that Dead "was, in fact, full of life, and death and was an unexpected delight" and gave it four out of five stars. Writing for Stuff, reviewer James Croot stated although there were some inspired moments, "Dead’s combination of the supernatural and silly behaviour just felt a little too forced," and rated the film three stars.

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 88% based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4 out of 10.