The Dead Don’t Hurt Review – Palpable Emotion, Excellent Performances

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Category: Indies, Docs, Foreign Film

Published on Wednesday, 29 May 2024 09:38

Written by Janet Walker

The Dead Don't Hurt, from Shout! Studios, presents a story of loss, and hope as two lovers meet by coincidence, and before they could begin their life together, are separated, which results in irreparable harm and loss.

The film begins with a single scene of a knight in shiny armor, riding through a dense wooded forest. Instantly the scene cuts to a woman, played by Vicky Krieps, who is one tear from death. Sitting beside her bed, a man, he takes her pulse, a single tear escapes, and closes her eyes.

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Suddenly the scene cuts to the dusty western town, we hear sounds of gunfire, and a man crawling to the door, screaming the name, Westin, played by Solly McLeod, after the gunman, who turns and kills him. As the deputy attempts to subdue him, he is killed point blank.

The man, played by Viggo Mortensen, is burying the woman when a group of men approach on horseback. The man, an elder statemen of the town, played by Danny Huston, call him sheriff, and explains the gunfight.

The Dead Don't Hurt weaves the narratives of the lovers, Vivienne Le Coudy, played by Vicky Krieps, and Olsen, played by Viggo Mortensen, as a happenstance meeting in San Francisco changes their lives. Soon they are living on the outskirts of a desert town that is on the verge of becoming a boom town as the goldrush of the 1860s is luring everyone west.

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As the two, both fiercely independent, are now trying to figure out how to maintain their independence and build a life, they make decisions without thinking of the possible outcomes. Olsen feels compelled to join the military and fight against slavery, swearing allegiance to his new country, and Vivienne takes a job in the local saloon.

Once Olsen leaves for the war, Vivienne is seen as abandoned and as it is a land with little laws, Westin, the son of one of the town's founder and wealthiest men, Alfred Jeffries, played by Garret Dillahunt, decides, as he is entitled to commit any crime he chooses without recourse, simply as a birthright and position, he shows up at Olsen and Vivienne's home, at night, as she is alone.

The next morning, she is bruised, with visible scars of brutality and violence. In shock, fight or flight syndrome takes over and she has packed the house and her bags prepared to flee when she stops. Instead, she chooses to fight and returns to her job.

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When her boss, Kendall, played by W. Earl Brown, the saloon owner, sees her, his concern is genuine. In the next moment, Westin walks shamelessly into the saloon, with stitches on his cheek. The patrons look at Vivienne and then at Westin, and without a word they understand. Westin turns and walks away.

When Olsen returns from the war, he and Vivienne must confront and make peace with the person each has become.

The Dead Don't Hurt weaves togethers separate narratives, through flashbacks, to create a strong story of loss, independence, tragedy, revenge, forgiveness, and hope. A tragic love story, renewal and hope, and the conflict between retribution, corruption, and injustice and finally managed justice. The ensemble cast deliver strong, palpable, performances.

Viggo Mortensen who serves as writer, director, and producer, handles the sexual assault scenes with consideration. Without gratuitous, unreasonable, or unexpected violence, the narrative, which the audience understands through the buildup of violent behavior by the predator and the absence of the protector, was inevitable.

The Dead Don't Hurt, an emotional journey, is exclusively in theaters May 31, 2024. See it.

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Country: U.S.

Language: English, French, with English Subtitles.

Release Date: May 31, 2024.

Runtime: 129 minutes.

Director: Viggo Mortensen.

Produced by: Regina Solorzano, Jeremy Thomas, Viggo Mortensen.

Executive Producers: Roberto Paxson, Gabriel Terrazas, Ivan Kelava, Daniel Berkerman, Jesper Morthorst, Paula Astorga Riestra, Peter Watson.

Writer: Viggo Mortensen.

Cast: Vicky Krieps, Viggo Mortensen, Solly McLeod, Garret Dillahunt, Colin Morgan, Ray McKinnon, W. Earl Brown, Atlas Green, Danny Huston.