Jan. 12, 2023
By Clare Malfetti
Staff Writer
The Hulu original movie “Darby and the Dead” was released on Dec. 2. The film follows teenager Darby (Riele Downs), who is able to see ghosts due to a near-death childhood experience. Due to Darby’s ability, she runs a business where she assists ghosts in sending their final messages to help them officially pass on.
While this movie contains many predictable elements and follows the normal teen drama trope, it is still cute and entertaining.
During Darby’s first day back at school, she and her ex-friend, high school’s stereotypical mean girl Capri (Auli’i Cravalho), get into a verbal fight. This leads to an accident that causes Capri’s death. As a result, Darby is forced to help Capri with her unfinished business and send her a final message.
The unfinished business is to throw the Sweet 17th birthday party Capri had been planning forever.
“Darby and the Dead” sets itself apart from other teen dramas because of the focus on Darby’s supernatural powers, which is one of the best aspects of the movie.
For Darby to successfully throw this party, she has to step out of her comfort zone completely, which Capri helps her do. Darby needs to take Capri’s place as the school’s popular girl. She accomplishes this goal, becoming the complete opposite of who she was at the beginning of the movie.
The outcome of the party is pretty predictable. It does not go well, as the whole school thinks Darby is a freak, so she ends up losing all of her popularity.
The predictability of the movie is annoying, but the plot is very good. “Darby and the Dead” sets itself apart from other teen dramas because of the focus on Darby’s supernatural powers, which is one of the best aspects of the movie. Another outstanding aspect of the movie is that Darby breaks the fourth wall a few times. This, too, is striking because it is not characteristic of a lot of other movies.
The best scene in the film comes at the end when Alex (Chosen Jacobs), the boy who throughout the movie seems to have a crush on Darby, reveals striking information to her while they are at school. He can also see when Darby breaks the fourth wall, which adds cleverness to this scene and highlights the special bond the two share.
Although Alex is not a major character in the plot of the movie, he is definitely the most interesting. Those who have seen Chosen Jacobs in the 2017 horror film “It” will also admire his acting because he displays great versatility in the characters he portrays in these two films.
“Darby and the Dead” is a cliché and predictable teen drama movie. It probably won’t become one of your favorite movies, but it is worth watching because of its fun and unique characters.
