Over Your Dead Body Is Fun Until It Isn’t

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Like many recent horror-comedies, Over Your Dead Body doesn’t break much new ground, but it starts off with energy and a bit of cleverness. The film, a remake of the 2022 Norwegian movie The Trip (which I haven’t seen), centers on a struggling director and his actress wife who decide to kill each other during a weekend getaway to their cabin. The director, Dan (Jason Segel), carefully plans how to kill and dispose of his wife, Lisa (Samara Weaving), wanting to make it as painless as possible – he even prepares a fancy last meal, complete with special peppercorns. Lisa, however, has a simpler, more direct plan, fitting her tough personality. Predictably, things don’t go as planned, and while the film manages to be surprisingly heartfelt for a while, it eventually gets lost in a series of predictable twists and excessive violence.

Jorma Taccone, known for his work on comedies like MacGruber and Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, directs Over Your Dead Body. The film, written by Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney, jumps around in time to explain its plot, but surprisingly, its heart lies in the depiction of a troubled marriage. The movie skillfully shows the passive-aggressive dynamic between Dan and Lisa, highlighting how they argue over small, insignificant things – a misplaced sweater, dinner choices, or how long Lisa takes in the bath. Jason Segel plays Dan with his signature awkwardness – he’s physically imposing yet seems easily flustered – which contrasts well with the sharp, intense energy of Amanda Weaving as Lisa. For a while, the director and actors expertly balance comedy with sadness, making even the smallest marital squabbles feel surprisingly painful.

Unfortunately, the movie falls into predictable genre tropes. By the time a group of escaped prisoners, led by Timothy Olyphant, appears, the film’s initial charm has already begun to fade. What started as a promising, subtly-developed dark comedy loses its momentum and becomes a series of increasingly outlandish violent scenes – stabbings, explosions, gruesome injuries, and even some distasteful jokes. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with violent humor, this film doesn’t handle it with enough wit or creativity to truly impress, despite clearly trying to do so.

It’s become a bit predictable when movies, especially in genres like horror, fall back on the same tired trope: a small group of people running from something inside or around a single location. Originally, using a limited setting – like a cabin, a remote house, or even a new home – made sense for low-budget films and could be genuinely scary. The isolation was meant to create a feeling of being trapped with no escape. But lately, it feels like every movie ends up this way, and it’s become disappointing. We get that independent filmmakers have budget constraints and can’t afford elaborate sets or large casts. However, must they rely on such unoriginal ideas?

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2026-04-24 21:55