Netflix’s latest release Don’t Kill Me aka Non Mi Uccidere is a zombie horror film directed and written by Andrea De Sica, with Giacomo Mazzariol and Gianni Romoli also serving as co-writer for the screenplay. The film stars Alice Pagani as Mirta, our protagonist, and Rocco Fasano as Robin starring opposite her. Other cast members include Silvia Calderoni, Fabrizio Ferracane, Sergio Albelli, Giacomo Ferrara and, Anita Caprioli. The runtime of the film is 1 hour 30 minutes, with subtitles and audio present both in English as well as Italian.
– Don’t Kill Me Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –
Don’t Kill Me: “These Violent Delights Have Violent Ends”
Don’t Kill Me starts off in a rush of adrenaline, young romance and death with The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights serving as its background score. We meet Mirta and Robin, two high schoolers in love. Under Robin’s influence and her own decision to prove a point, Mirta and Robin both consume a drug that results in their death, almost immediately. But where these two’s lives end is the moment the film starts rolling.
We find Mirta resurrected, breaking out of the cemetery. She is an overdead now and to preserve her body from decomposing, she has to feed on the living. But, finding her path from innocence to violence is not easy. Especially, when the Benedetti, a cult organisation since the 17th century who kill the overdead to protect the living, are behind her back. But, more than anything, Mirta craves Robin’s presence, who did not get resurrected when she came out of her grave.
With desire, love and the struggle of the hunt and being hunted, Mirta needs to find a way to survive in this new world that she did not know existed. What happens to Mirta? Will she survive? And, where is Robin and why did he not face resurrection with Mirta when they died together? All the answers to these questions and more unfold during the course of the film.
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Don’t Kill Me is a simple film that does not complicate itself with too many tropes but fails to stand out all the same. Through the course of the film, we see Mirta and Robin’s relationship in flashbacks and how Mirta survives her newfound world. With a short runtime, the film definitely feels like it lacks depth but there are moments of revelation that most of us would not see coming.
Irrespective of everything, there is a very crucial element in the film that comes up more often, pinching the audience to face the ghastly truth of our world- how women are viewed. Even after being an overdead, we see Mirta being objectified for her body and pulled into the darkness of patriarchy. From being forced upon to the reason for her death, which isn’t as simple as it looks, we see Mirta understand how her choice or decision as a female has never been taken into consideration.
Don’t Kill Me: Final Verdict
Overall, Netflix’s newest zombie horror lacks the significant effect of a horror film. It does show us the terrifying reality of how women are never safe but it does very little to actually scare us even with its themes and storytelling. The gory elements in the film resonate with that of a slasher film, but the rest of the plot relies on the build-up of a drama which makes the entire film a bland plate of delicacies that could have been cooked better. The actors put minimal effort to make a lasting impression and it is a rather forgettable tale.
You can watch the Italian film Don’t Kill Me aka Non Mi Uccidere now streaming on Netflix.
This review is just not good. Granted the move is not great but the review is worse. It was a fresh take zombies. The movie was mostly about a girl guided by only emotion making a very long sting mistakes that ended her old life to start a new one. She grows from being prey to being hunter. And in the end decides she enjoys the taste of practically immortal power………….and human flesh apparently.