'Over Your Dead Body' delivers murderous good fun (review)

Over Your Dead Body is an intense and hyperviolent ride. Seriously, it is very bloody. It’s chock-full of sarcastic one-liners, most of which land pretty well. That is largely attributed to Weaving and Segel’s killer delivery. I found the movie very similar to They Will Kill You in terms of its tone and energy. It is both comedic and thrilling. While there were parts I didn’t love about it, Over Your Dead Body definitely works well for what it’s supposed to be.

Segel and Weaving play the unhappily married couple Dan and Lisa. Dan is a fallen film director who now directs commercials. Lisa is a stage actress looking for her big break. Once happy and in love, the pair now harbor a strong detestation toward one another. Several reasons are to blame for their marriage going sour. On one hand, Dan made some poor spending decisions that landed both of them in heaps of debt. On the other, Lisa drifted a little too close to one of her male coworkers.

To thwart their marital issues, Dan and Lisa decide to take a quiet getaway in a remote cabin belonging to Dan’s father. What better form of couple’s therapy is there than a romantic retreat in the woods? I’m gonna go with not killing your life partner. Unbeknownst to Dan and Lisa, both of them went on the trip fully intending to murder the other. Their sinister plots quickly unravel, leading to an awkward yet hilarious confrontation with Dan duct taped to a chair. Things get even more chaotic when a crude trio of fugitives (Juliette Lewis, Timothy Olyphant, and Keith Jardine) crash the party. A whirlwind of violence and action ensues, forcing Dan and Lisa to table their problems to take on the unwelcome intruders.

The dynamic between Weaving and Segel is very entertaining. Weaving is an overly sarcastic, disaffected actress, while Segel is her grumpy, mismatched partner. They play the part of a resentful couple quite well. Hearing Weaving deliver her lines in her thick, authentic Aussie accent made it that much better.

While I found the movie enjoyable, there were still parts I didn’t love. For instance, the “prison fight” scene felt a tad unnecessary and stretched on for way too long. I get that Lewis, Olyphant, and Jardine are supposed to be the bad guys and all, but the uncomfy sequence felt tonally out of place. Honestly, Allegra and Pete’s entire relationship made me slightly uncomfortable. That’s not to say that their violent antics weren’t entertaining.

What works well for this movie is its creative use of gore, which is heaps more than I was anticipating going into the theater. The movie carries copious amounts of blood loss and severed body parts, which is perfect for a dark comedy thriller of its nature. Despite the extreme violence, Over Your Dead Body somehow manages to maintain a relatively lighthearted and comedic tone throughout.

For a fun, violent action/comedy, Over Your Dead Body definitely hits the mark. Thanks to Segel and Weaving’s killer performances as the married couple from hell, the film is as quick-witted as it is gory. Though not without its flaws, it is a bloody good time.

Over Your Dead Body ⭐ (3.5 of 5)