It’s not often that I say this, but “Play Dead” is not the train wreck I thought it was going to be. An unflinching portrayal of a sister’s love. Chloe risks it all to save her deadbeat brother by playing dead in a morgue. If anyone is going to be successful in making sense of or creating a movie out of a film set in a morgue, Partick Laussier (Scream TV Series & My Bloody Valentine), Adam Mason (Hangman), and Simon Boyles (The Visitor) would definitely be who I’d pick to do it. All three filmmakers have made films I recommend regularly.
For a film about a sick and twisted coroner using a morgue as a front for an organ donation ring, there is surprisingly little extreme gore to be found. So if surgery and the removal of organs have put you off watching Play Dead thus far, know that there are only a few scenes that involve getting up close and personal with hearts and livers.
Play Dead Inside a Morgue
Performances are mostly nicely done in this B-Movie horror and thriller too. The creepy coroner manages to pull off a completely apathetic and steely-nerved purveyor of the dead. The coroner is played by a very recognizable Jerry O’Connell (Scream 2). In the lead is the quintessential final girl Chloe (Bailee Madison, The Strangers: Prey at Night.)
Madison pulls off her role as an educated criminology student who decides to inject herself with narcotics to be picked up as a dead person. Her thought process, though not a perfectly logical way to retrieve a phone held in the evidence room of the morgue still makes for a nail-biting scenario. This idea is flimsily held together by the fact her brother T.J. planned an armed robbery. And when he did, he did it all on his personal iPhone. Now his partner in crime is dead. So Chloe’s plan is the only way to save him from going to prison.
But don’t let all those pesky details, laid out in the rather offputting opening quarter put you off a super engaging film. Play Dead has some excellent visual effects. The title makes excellent use of a canister of nitrogen. In a scene, you can see coming from a mile away the payoff for your patience is pretty good. The twists in the narrative are also not hidden very well, but somehow all of the ingredients come together surprisingly well. The introduction of what can only be labeled as a hound from hell led to a particularly amusing point in the film that elicited laughter. I did appreciate the epic nature of the deed itself though.
Play Dead is rated
3.5 electric fences out of 5
Is the “Play Dead” Movie a Good Movie?
All things aside, the premise here is spectacularly left field. However, Play Dead manages a bit of tension, is a unique idea, and is plenty watchable. Sure, you might come away from watching and think, “What on earth did I just watch?” But despite the predictability of the script, there was still one of two surprises that I didn’t see coming.
Looking for another movie with morgues and dead bodies, watch Broken Bird next.
Does the Dog Die?
Does the Dog Die in Play Dead 2023
Mother of Movies likes to add a section for those who hate watching movies with animal deaths. You are very safe with Play Dead. At no time does the dog even get to play dead. The feisty pupper does get electrocuted during one scene in the film. However, the dog is fine and shown being led to safety at the end of the film.
