Deany Bean is Dead: Dark Romantic Comedy Rises From the Grave

Deanna has been scorned and stalks her ex-fiancé while dancing around a complete mental breakdown. She discovers that Tom is now engaged to Angela, and this sends Deanna-or Deany, as Tom calls her- over the edge. She seeks comfort and validation from her new-age therapy group; but being dumped isn’t exactly on the trauma priority list. Making a bad day even worse, she gets fired after making a distracted and very dangerous mistake. Her boss, Maxine, attacks her in the parking garage, and Deany snaps, strangling her. She panics and tosses Maxine’s body in her trunk, but now she has to hide it.

What better place to stash a corpse than your ex’s backyard? What could possibly go wrong with this plan? Oh, so very much!

Worlds collide as Tom and Angela have unexpectedly come home from their vacation in Peru and are hosting a small celebration of their engagement. Deany is confronted not only by all the changes Angela has made to her former home and the seemingly perfect relationship she has with Tom, but also by her former therapist and his wife, and a surprise acquaintance from her meditation therapy circle.

As the night wears on, Deany struggles to maintain the façade of a confident and self-assured woman, but as lies pile upon lies and everyone becomes increasingly agitated, the illusion comes crashing down. Rejected, dejected, and at rock bottom, Deany decides to end it all… but that doesn’t mean what you think it means.

The writer, director, and lead Alison Volk truly created a character that kept you on the fence. She writes:

“Deany, the protagonist, is a flawed anti-hero, a character struggling to get grip on her life – and a character that doesn’t conform to the usual “easy likability” aspects of a typical Hollywood film.”

Adding to that, there isn’t a single character we are introduced to that is truly a good person. Deany is obsessed and refuses to accept reality, Issy (Deany’s best friend) is vapid and dismissive of her pain, Myron is a complete jerk, Dr. Harris should have his license to practice revoked, Tom is a gaslighting cheater, Angela is cruel, Tara is obtuse, and Maxine is Hell-on-wheels. Monsters, the lot of them.

The movie moves seamlessly between fantasy imagery and stark reality. There is a dreamlike quality that seeps into the shots. You sometimes aren’t sure if everything is truly happening- including the narration that provides not only some well-placed humor, but also guides the story along in the format of the Murder Macabre Podcast, hosted by Jermaine Livewell. The true talent of Ms. Volk is highlighted with the twists of the various “episode” introductions and continued commentary- Are you the listener? Has all of this already taken place? Is this all in Deany’s mind?

Without spoiling the end, I was impressed by the touches of absurdist and avant-garde. The bizarro-world Deus Ex Machina, which reminded me of some of the bizarre setups in Rubber, was my favorite part of the film; revealing that there never was a Fourth Wall, in fact, there were no walls at all.

For a dark romantic comedy, Deany Bean is Dead offers some fresh and interesting takes on the typical “Get him/her back” story. There is not a happily ever after, but perhaps there could be some happily most of the time in Deany’s future.

While not truly a thriller or horror movie, the potential to take a turn to the truly terrifying is present, but they don’t pull the trigger. If you want to be scared, reach for The Loved Ones, Audition, or All the Boys Love Mandy Lane. Deany Bean is Dead may not deliver on the terror, but it makes up for it in story and atmosphere.

Deany Bean is Dead was released On Demand on July 10th, 2020, and is available on iTunes and the tubitv app.

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