Tallgrass Film Festival 2022 review: Death complicates friendship in ‘THE CIVIL DEAD’

THE CIVIL DEAD

The indie film that’s been killing it on the festival circuit, Clay Tatum’s The Civil Dead, sets friendship and tomfoolery against the everyday moments. All Clay wants to do is chill out when his wife leaves for a week. But an old friend mysteriously appears out of nowhere, complicating both relationships. You see, one of them is dead.

You immediately fantasize about all the fun things you would do together. There’s an undeniably brilliant poker scene. But things get weird, and Clay has second thoughts about helping Whit for eternity. The chemistry between Whitmer Thomas and director Clay Tatum is otherworldly. Pun intended. They make awkward endearing.

The script, penned by our two leads, might seem straightforward at first but do not get comfortable with the buddy comedy genre. The Civil Dead goes in a direction I did not see coming, though, in retrospect, I should have. From hilarious to shockingly dark, the film tackles loneliness in a brutally honest way. This one is going to haunt you in the best way possible.


DIRECTOR:
CLAY TATUM

WRITTEN BY:
CLAY TATUM
WHITMER THOMAS

EXEC PROD:
KASANDRA BARUCH
MIKE MARASCO

PRODUCED BY:
KASANDRA BARUCH
MIKE MARASCO
CLAY TATUM
WHITMER THOMAS

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY:
JOSHUA HILL

MUSIC BY:
MAX WHIPPLE

103 mins


About Liz Whittemore

Liz grew up in northern Connecticut and was memorizing movie dialogue from Shirley Temple to A Nightmare on Elm Street at a very early age. She will watch just about any film all the way through (no matter how bad) just to prove a point. A loyal New Englander, a lover of Hollywood, and true inhabitant of The Big Apple.

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