TL;DR – It is an amusing and chaotic film that does hold back a bit when it should embrace its premise.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

Daniel’s Gotta Die Review –

Today, we are looking at a fundamentally odd film out of Canada. One that leans into chaos at almost every turn but never truly embraces it. Full of character actors playing right into their caricatures but finding them quite two-dimensional. It’s quite engaging, but it always holds you at arm’s length.   

So, to set the scene, one evening, Daniel Powell (Joel David Moore) woke up feeling something was off like someone was in his room. He wonders who is out there, but just when he resigns himself to it being nothing, he is attacked from behind. The Powell family is incredibly dysfunctional, more dysfunctional than anyone should be. Not that Daniel really knows his siblings because they were gone to boarding school most of the time. But they were all untied after the patriarch Edward Powell (Iggy Pop) died suddenly. All the kids need to get along for a weekend to get their inheritance, but we know that does not go well.  

While I am not really a fan of in media res, I think it works here because they start with making sure that everyone has a clear and present reason to want Daniel dead. You then throw them all together in a pressure cooker of money, guilt, resentment, and well-meaning yet futile reconciliation attempts, and you get chaos. It is one of those scenarios where there are so many competing plans as to what to do about the money that obviously shenanigans will come from all those interweaving ideas crushing together.

Every element of the film is heightened by the abject silliness that can be found in almost every pore of the narrative. This silliness comes from an iguana that explodes in blood. The musical score that is going hard, like harder than you expect. They lean into a lot of physical body humour that all that cast are ready for, and of course, there are a lot of odd bodily sounds that consistently get a giggle or two. It is the chaotic nature of the film and the cast leaning into their caricatures that make it work.

However, some frustrations do hold it back. Even though it is a silly film, there are some inconsistencies with tone throughout, which did limit the peril. If they were going to lean into the dark comedy, I wish they had not waited until the end to embrace that truly. They never truly understood why Daniel might choose his family over Emily (Chantel Riley), which led to some odd moments throughout. Which is more frustrating when I am not sure they worked out what they wanted to say about families. You also have to really lean into the suspension of disbelief to get through some of the wild coincidences.

In the end, do we recommend Daniel’s Gotta Die? While it is not the best dark comedy I have watched, it was quite entertaining at times. It was amusing to watch all those plans fall apart in very explosive ways. Have you watched Daniel’s Gotta Die? Let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked Daniel’s Gotta Die, we would recommend to you American Dreamer.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Daniel’s Gotta Die
Directed by – Jeremy LaLonde
Written by – Matthew Dressel
Music by – Ian LeFeuvre & Stephen Krecklo
Cinematography by – Robert Scarborough
Edited by – Jeremy LaLonde
Production/Distribution Companies – Productivity Media, Darius Films, Joker Films & Crave
Starring – Joel David Moore, Jason Jones, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Carly Chaikin, Chantel Riley, Iggy Pop, Bob Saget, Varun Saranga & Dax Ravina
Rating – Around an Australia: M;