‘She Dies Tomorrow’ Review; Dir. Amy Seimetz (2020)

Horror films often thrive or falter because of the “monster” at the centre of the story – the threat that antagonises our leading characters; the crux of the dread. Usually, it’s something tangible – a serial-killer or the paranormal; something that can be seen and often stopped. For her sophomore feature She Dies Tomorrow, Amy Seimetz conjures up the scariest “monster” of them all: the idea that we’re all going to die.

When Amy (Kate Lyn Sheil) wakes up in a cold sweat out of fear she’s going to die – something that we’ve all probably experienced before. Except, come hell or high water, our leading lady is actually going to die. This isn’t just a sporadic queasiness at the thought of death. For whatever reason, Amy knows. As anxiety begins to take hold of her, she confides this paranoia in her friend Jane (Jane Adams). Quick to dismiss the idea at first – Amy is drunk when she reveals this, after all – Jane learns that this fear, however, is contagious and starts suffering similar visions of her untimely passing too. And, like a viral infection, this phenomenon expands into their social circle as others become certain that death awaits them the following day.

In framing her whole narrative around the fear of death, Seimetz’s feature takes on a whole new dimension. It’s suddenly a very real, relatable idea – especially in the current climate with coronavirus in the air. Whereas most filmmakers would see their characters confront death in some explosive manner, Seimetz is more interested in letting this idea ravage our characters. The horror comes from the existential dread these people go through as they grapple with this moral contagion. They’re going to die, and there’s nothing they can do about it. We all know we’ll eventually die but there’s something terrifying about envisioning your own demise; Seimetz confronts nihilistic questions about anxiety and death in such a fascinating, visual way here and it makes for an unconventional approach to crafting genuinely unsettling horror.

While the lack of any outright scares may deter many, She Dies Tomorrow is a kaleidoscopic psychodrama that feels more akin to It Follows than Scream – in which ‘death’ is manifested as a physical being that runs around and murders people. It’s a complex, challenging endeavour – a deep dive into the psyche that is visualised through bright blues, reds, and hallucinatory images. It doesn’t all make sense and there’s little in the way of resolution or catharsis (it barely has a plot); those craving a more conventional work will surely be disappointed. And it’s in straying from narrative convention and horror tropes that Seimitz’s film can sometimes falter too – buckling under the own expectations she sets from the off when it meanders a little too aimlessly. It’s not the easiest of watches, not always the most entertaining either. But it’s a provocative attempt at crafting something genuinely chilling and it undeniably succeeds in doing that.

 She Dies Tomorrow is released on Curzon Home Cinema and Digital Download on 28th August.