The Dead Within started out good. I was interested in the couple and what could have been going on out there to make them hide out the way they were.
Kim and Mike seemed happy at the dinner party. They have an unusual routine- Mike goes out, Kim stays in, they have dinner dates with what supplies Mike can find outside. The dinner dates and dresses were a little unusual and made me curious.
This intro to the characters held my interest and made me keep watching... but it just got worse from there.
Kim is a little stir crazy and her husband is having more difficulty finding resources. There are a few threatening sounds outside...
Kim talks to a "ranger" who claims to be rescue but we aren't sure if this is real or imagined. This ranger gets abusive as the movie progresses.
Kim descends into madness, especially in the third act and we see a lot of scary post traumatic stress dreams/hallucinations/images. I will give this movie credit for portraying post traumatic stress accurately. The actress also did a good job with what she was given script wise.
My problem is the path this movie took. It chose to focus on Kim's descent from stir crazy to psychotic breakdown.
What I was really hoping was the movie would focus on the Ranger.
The idea of a rescue not being a rescue isn't new in zombie movies, but the lonely Kim looking for company and finding dangerous company in the Ranger seems way more interesting and less discombobulating than a bunch of flashbacks and trauma scenes.
At one point Kim said with agency that she is doing an important job: she isn't doing nothing. She's keeping watch while her husband is away.
I really liked this hint of development for Kim. I wanted her to grow stronger and deal with the Ranger character in some way. I wanted to see her become smarter, braver, and more competent.
This direction has much more room for growth for Kim than what the writers chose.
When she killed her husband she was angry he cooped her up (understandable). She said something about her being competent and able and that she didn't need to be cooped up like how she was.
What Kim said about her competency might be true, but the movie didn't give her a chance to prove it. She's never seen what's out there and there is lot of evidence she's mentally unstable.
For her to say she IS competent struck me as a bit childish. I wanted more maturity and growth from her character. Based on what I saw in the movie, I'm not convinced Kim would be competent outside.
The ending was pure garbage. I didn't care when she opened the door and ran out. I knew at that point I would really dislike this movie.
I felt her black eyes at the end and her husband appearing again to kill her was a cheap trick. How would he pop out of nowhere like that? Come on! It's also a major stretch to say Kim is infected. I can't see how that would be possible without giving the plot major leeway.
I invested my time and energy in this movie based on the first third, but got absolutely no payoff.
This movie is like the theater has run out of popcorn when you try to claim your refill :(
Kim and Mike seemed happy at the dinner party. They have an unusual routine- Mike goes out, Kim stays in, they have dinner dates with what supplies Mike can find outside. The dinner dates and dresses were a little unusual and made me curious.
This intro to the characters held my interest and made me keep watching... but it just got worse from there.
Kim is a little stir crazy and her husband is having more difficulty finding resources. There are a few threatening sounds outside...
Kim talks to a "ranger" who claims to be rescue but we aren't sure if this is real or imagined. This ranger gets abusive as the movie progresses.
Kim descends into madness, especially in the third act and we see a lot of scary post traumatic stress dreams/hallucinations/images. I will give this movie credit for portraying post traumatic stress accurately. The actress also did a good job with what she was given script wise.
My problem is the path this movie took. It chose to focus on Kim's descent from stir crazy to psychotic breakdown.
What I was really hoping was the movie would focus on the Ranger.
The idea of a rescue not being a rescue isn't new in zombie movies, but the lonely Kim looking for company and finding dangerous company in the Ranger seems way more interesting and less discombobulating than a bunch of flashbacks and trauma scenes.
At one point Kim said with agency that she is doing an important job: she isn't doing nothing. She's keeping watch while her husband is away.
I really liked this hint of development for Kim. I wanted her to grow stronger and deal with the Ranger character in some way. I wanted to see her become smarter, braver, and more competent.
This direction has much more room for growth for Kim than what the writers chose.
When she killed her husband she was angry he cooped her up (understandable). She said something about her being competent and able and that she didn't need to be cooped up like how she was.
What Kim said about her competency might be true, but the movie didn't give her a chance to prove it. She's never seen what's out there and there is lot of evidence she's mentally unstable.
For her to say she IS competent struck me as a bit childish. I wanted more maturity and growth from her character. Based on what I saw in the movie, I'm not convinced Kim would be competent outside.
The ending was pure garbage. I didn't care when she opened the door and ran out. I knew at that point I would really dislike this movie.
I felt her black eyes at the end and her husband appearing again to kill her was a cheap trick. How would he pop out of nowhere like that? Come on! It's also a major stretch to say Kim is infected. I can't see how that would be possible without giving the plot major leeway.
I invested my time and energy in this movie based on the first third, but got absolutely no payoff.
This movie is like the theater has run out of popcorn when you try to claim your refill :(