**This is a spoiler-free review so feel free to read on!**

“Lonely life…popular death.”

Darby and the Dead released on December 2nd 2022 on Hulu. The supernatural teen comedy film stars Riele Downs, Auli’i Cravalho, Asher Angel, and Chosen Jacobs. It runs for approximately an hour and forty minutes.

After a near-death experience, Darby finds herself able to communicate with the dead, as she makes it her life’s mission to help ghosts with their unfinished business. However, things become complicated when Darby’s former best friend winds up on the other side.

Here is the trailer:

Darby and the Dead is basically a mashup of Ghosts and Boo, Bitch with two very likable leads and some fun moments, but does it do enough to earn a watch? Let’s find out…

The Pros:

Two leads to root for.

I thought both actresses did a great job with what they were given. They put forth a valiant effort and were very believable. I think they honestly saved this film in a lot of ways. I’d love to see them both appear in more because I think they both have a bright future ahead of them.

Entertaining premise.

Sure, I’ve seen this type of film before, but I still enjoy supernatural teen comedies and this one did have some moments worth watching. There was a genuine and heartwarming feel to it. The pacing wasn’t bad either, which helped.

The Cons:

Falls into too many tropes…

From the high school hallway montage scene to the cheer-leading tryouts and everything in-between. This film had such a cute premise, but it got swallowed up by the generic teen moments you would expect to see in any other similar film, which was disappointing. The film wasn’t bad at all, but it was very predictable and lost itself in teen comedy mediocrity too many times.

So am I in or out?

I’m in about 75 percent…

I loved the premise and the two main actresses were a lot of fun to watch, but this film lost its way and leaned too heavily on teen drama tropes. I’d recommend watching Ghosts first…

I hope you enjoyed the review and feel free to post your own thoughts and theories on Darby and the Dead in the comments section below. Thanks so much for reading and happy viewing!

Best,

Amy Koto, TV Fanatic Girl

DON’T TAKE THE JOB…

It was only supposed to be temporary…but when Olivia Crewe accepts a new position that seems too good to be true, she soon discovers that twelve other girls previously had the same job as her. Only none of them lasted for more than thirty days. No notice. Nothing…right before they mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

My supernatural thriller Girl Number Thirteen is out now! I hope you enjoy!

Girl Number Thirteen is available here!

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