‘Didn’t Die’ review: Dir. Meera Menon [Sundance 2025]

Directed by Meera Menon, Didn’t Die is providing this year’s Sundance Film Festival with its quota of zombies. Menon’s take is a departure from the typical horror heavy and gore-filled route, and instead delivers a quirkier and more light-hearted interpretation of the zombie film. Set amidst the zombie apocalypse, Didn’t Die joins Vinita (Kiran Deol), a woman who has been documenting her cross-country journey back home via a podcast. As Vinita arrives home, she hosts a live recording of her podcast, but the event is interrupted by her ex-partner, Vincent (George Basil), who has a baby in tow. As the pair and those around them try to figure out how to handle the infant, the undead become riled and restless. 

Didn’t Die is exactly the type of quirky genre dramedy that thrives at Sundance, and as such Menon’s film will almost certainly play well to the crowd. Balancing the humour and pathos beautifully, Didn’t Die taps into pandemic anxieties and drives them to the forefront, making the audience reflect on their own experience. There might not have been ‘Biters’ during Covid, but it’s the closest modern civilization has come to something akin to the apocalypse, which adds another layer to experiencing a film like this. Complimenting this melancholy are some moments of genuine laugh-out-loud humour. The character of Vincent almost steals Sundance with his opening line as he tries to locate the parent of the child he has found. 

Visually, Menon opts to tell her story predominantly in a monochromatic colour palette. The move works as a neat homage to George A. Romero’s iconic Night of the Living Dead. More than that, it highlights the numbness that Vinita is experiencing, and mirrors the audience being shell shocked by everything that the world has thrown at them over the last few years. The black and white delivery method also conjures up some historic Sundance successes such as Kevin Smith’s Clerks. Only time will tell if Didn’t Die can follow suit, but it certainly holds enough surprises to be in with a chance. 

Didn’t Die was reviewed at Sundance 2025.