She Dies Tomorrow (2020)

December 12, 2020 12:37 PM

Amy thinks she's dying tomorrow...and it's contagious.

Written and directed by Amy Seimetz. Currently streaming in the US on Hulu.

posted by DirtyOldTown (7 comments total)

Honestly it was one of my least favorite movies I watched this year. I feel the need to comment because I pretty much watch nearly everything you post about DOT. I needed to be consistent
posted by FirstMateKate at 12:45 PM on December 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

I'll be thinking about it for a while, but I still can't say if I liked it.

Press has called it a horror film with an art film edge. But it's a lot more towards Upstream Color than it is It Follows.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:09 PM on December 12, 2020

I don't know how well this actually works but I liked it quite a bit. I liked the idea of "what if depression was a communicable disease" and I liked that it never blamed Amy or treated her like all of this was her fault.

I really bought into its vision and its aesthetic. I felt really exhausted after watching it and I think that's part of what it was meant to do.

I've had a lot of conversations recently about how I sometimes think "interesting" can be better than "good." I like messy things. I like when people reach for something and maybe don't quite get there. I feel that way about this movie. I found it remarkable for its vision and its commitment to it. Is it for everyone? Probably not. I was happy to follow it where it wanted to take me, though.
posted by edencosmic at 6:05 PM on December 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

this was my favorite movie of the year by far, loved everything about it. this is the kind of movie i dreamed of making someday before i dropped out of film school. i think Neon did it a disservice by marketing it as a horror flick but it's so weird i sort of get it, how else were they gonna get eyes on this. as a long time Jane Adams Appreciator it was nice to see her get such a fun and meaty part. i loved the end where Michelle Rodriguez shows up and is basically in the middle of a completely different movie, just a neat way to show that there's more going on in this world than what's going on with the characters we're following. felt like this was the first piece of "pandemic art" i watched this year despite being produced before any of this happened; i suspect it will remain intertwined with Covid in my memory on rewatch for years to come.
posted by JimBennett at 11:07 PM on December 12, 2020

I bought this movie when it first came out, loved it while I watched it, and immediately knew that I’d have to watch it again to really absorb it. Haven’t done that second watch yet, but I’m looking forward to it. And yeah, Upstream Color is a great comparison, even ignoring the fact that Amy Seimetz (this film’s writer and director) was the co-lead in that film.
posted by ejs at 11:09 PM on December 12, 2020

I saw someone compare this to Melancolia and I can see that. Like that film, this seemed very personal, like it was something that the filmmaker felt like she had to make.

It's maybe a little awkward to compare this to Upstream Color since Seimetz had to get an protection from abuse order against Shane Carruth who was terrorizing her.
posted by octothorpe at 5:13 PM on December 13, 2020

Oh jeez. I had not heard about this. I should know by now that it’s the rare male director who hasn’t tormented someone.
posted by ejs at 5:25 PM on December 13, 2020 [1 favorite]