‘Darby and the Dead’ Review: “Teen Comedy With Extra Bite”

Going into Darby and the Dead, I remained clueless as to what I was getting into. However, once I saw it starred Auli’i Cravalho, I could not turn away my eyes. From Moana to the Netflix drama All Together Now and the Hulu romcom Crush, Cravalho is a shining star in the making. However, it’s clear she is playing the supporting role to the dynamite Riele Downs, who plays the eponymous character Darby.

Kicking off the film, Darby explains that when she was a child, she and her mom drowned at the beach. However, she was resuscitated after her mom passed away. Having come back from the afterlife, Darby developed a supernatural gift of speaking to the dead. She uses this gift to help the dead find closure in order to crossover to whatever awaits them after death. This premise sets the film in motion in a fun and exciting way and creates a buzz about just what is going to happen next.

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Starring as the terrifically extra popular girl Capri, Cravalho immediately shines in the mean girl role. Flaunting her shallow ways, she grows up unlikable until the moment of her accidental death in the girl’s locker room. Now the plot begins to truly take shape. In life, Caprin is constantly at odds with Darby, with the two butting heads in class and in the hall. However, given the nature of Darby’s gifts, the dead Capri seeks out Darby and the fun begins.

In the scene following her death, Capri faces reality as Darby lays the situation on pretty thick. The facade of a thick-skinned popular girl begins to shed from Capri in a brief moment of debilitating sadness. However, the film begins to get back to humor when Capri is back at high school watching how she is being remembered. Moments such as being upset about which pictures her friends bring to her memorial to the fear of missing out on her junior year of high school create strong humor in a film that does not take itself too seriously. At times, the film pokes a little fun at the vanity that young people must succumb to in order to climb the social ladder.

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Outside of the young cast, Darby and the Dead features some appearances from a stacked lineup of legendary players. Tony Danza, Wayne Knight, and Derek Luke all shine in impactful roles in Darby’s life. All three play into the evergrowing load of stress of her guiding the dead to where they should be. Additionally, like any good teen flick, there are a few very fun montages. Particularly one depicting the effort Darby must go through in order to become popular in the living world. It seeks out all the classic tropes and puts a fun spin on them to further the supernatural elements.

However, despite the charming cast and the funny one-liners and stylish sequences, its narrative simply fails to get off the ground. All at once, the film shines a light on a deteriorating relationship between a father and daughter, teasing a romance between unlikely lovers and showing how one can always still grow into themselves, even in death. The effort is there and it is strong. But narratively, the film falls short of accomplishing the lofty goals it sets out to accomplish. Moreover, it attempts to tell a story of Darby pining to be reunited with her deceased mother but fumbles it by speeding through the emotions attached to such a story.

Downs and Cravalho are perfect together, consistently toeing the line between friends and enemies. The dynamic duo adds a quaint memorable report to the already existing teen comedy canon. Cravalho’s sassy ability to manipulate Darby and Darby’s tortured soul destined to live amongst the dead feel like a unique pairing that shines through the film’s glaring issues. Overall, the film paints an interesting portrait of the social rank system found in most high school films while displaying a compelling partnership and delivering more than a few laugh-out-loud moments. – Christian Hubbard

Rating: 7/10

Darby and the Dead premieres on Hulu on December 2nd. 

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