Greed, lies, corruption, brawling, torture, false accusations, and a vigilante. Just a few of the devices that Kirill Sokolov, the Russian writer/director, used to form this unbelievably entertaining film “Why Don’t You Just Die!”. The story at first glance, poses the question to our main character, Matvey, “would you murder for the one you love?” In Matvey’s case, he loves Olya. Olya asks Matvey to murder her abusive father, Andrey. Armored with morals and a hammer, Matvey visits Andrey’s apartment. Andrey is a shady detective who proves to be a skilled opponent with a home-court advantage. The bone-crunching, flesh slicing, furniture flinging destructiveness that ensues once pandora’s box has been opened is pure drop-dead amusement.
The filming and interluding soundtrack add to the comedy of this film. Horror and laughs are at times dependable. The unbelievable situations that arise leave the viewer in shock and to re-engage spectators to the story, laughter is essential. The slow-motion angles within this film are most memorable. Sokolov uses slow-mo during a brawl in the apartment and in other instances, and it contributes to the flow of the flick. There is an interlude of music throughout, it adds a corky nature to a situation that would otherwise be extremely grim.
The director uses the characters’ clothing to communicate the message of the story, almost explicitly. The symbolism is in the sweatshirt of the film’s main character, Matvey. Matvey, our hero, takes matters into his own hands while rocking a Batman sweatshirt throughout the film. Batman, a universal hallmark for justice, is just what Matvey embodies. In his mind, how could he go to the authorities when his villain is well-respected and established in this field. Therefore, he is determined to avenge the abuse of Olya, even if it does not go as planned.
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About the film:
Matvey (Aleksandr Kuznetsov) has just one objective: to gain entry to his girlfriend’s parents’ apartment and kill her father Andrey (Vitaliy Khaev) with a hammer to restore her honour. But all is not as it initially seems, and Matvey’s attempts to bludgeon the family patriarch to death don’t quite go to plan as Andrey proves a more formidable – not to mention ruthless – opponent than he anticipated… and Matvey, for his part, proves stubbornly unwilling to die.
