Just Play Dead, 2026.
Directed by Martin Campbell.
Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Eva Green, María Pedraza, Eoin Macken, Jason Fernández, Nicole Ansari-Cox, Jordi Borràs, Eduardo Aladro, Salvador Esparza, Dar Dash, Nikola Parvanov, Colette Fenton-Hunt, Lee Boardman, César Martel, Paulo Rivera, Carlo Spano, Daniel Bustillo, David Juarez, and Geoffroy Lickel.
SYNOPSIS:
A criminal plans to fake his death for insurance money while framing his wife’s lover. His wife plots to kill him for real and take it all. Both race to outmaneuver each other in a deadly battle of wits.
A twisty, sometimes nonlinear, comedic thriller about a rich couple on a tropical island who scheme to kill one another shouldn’t be this dull. Directed by Martin Campbell, there is practically no passion behind Just Play Dead, coming from a limp screenplay by Dan Gordon (who has worked on a number of hits, including movies centered on murder) that not even a charismatic actor such as Samuel L. Jackson or a seductive, manipulative bombshell playing mind games to regain control from the surrounding men in her life in Eva Green’s character can elevate. They are the ones stuck playing dead, as this movie teases going somewhere for almost 90 minutes before ending in a string of preposterous swerves.
Shady entrepreneur Jack Wolf (Samuel L. Jackson) has a criminal history that has caught up with him, and he is about to be indicted. Fortunately, he has planned for this day, with a plot boiling down to his wife Nora (Eva Green), who actually owns 51% of the company, faking his murder to trigger a hefty payout. However, given that Jack hasn’t exactly been a noble partner, to the degree that Nora has started sticking around and sleeping with everyone from a new-to-the-area homicide detective, Dani (Eoin Macken), to a handsome younger man, Chad (Jason Fernández), there is a possibility that she might want to kill him for real. Considering that Jack has private investigators following Nora, photographing and compiling evidence for him, he is aware of this and essentially blackmails her into following through on the plan his way.
Not only are there occasional flashbacks (sometimes to five weeks ago) to provide more context for the motives of these duplicitous partners, but the filmmakers also run circles around the central plot in the present day. It doesn’t take a degree to figure out that Nora is using every advantage she has to concoct her own scheme involving these men doing her bidding, even if there are questions about whether she genuinely cares for any of these people. The problem is that it’s difficult to care about the answer. It’s also not long before Jack is forcing his way into the situation, with Chad in particular feeling in way over his head. Meanwhile, Dani’s law enforcement partner, Bianca (María Pedraza), says something similar, aware of who the Wolfs are and how close he is to an inevitable mess.
The film can’t even satisfy a travelogue, even with tropical environments. The closest to evoking that is through Samuel L. Jackson perpetually walking around in unbuttoned shirts, suggesting how warm and breezy the weather is. If only the actual movie were that breezy rather than making 90 minutes feel like 140. Even the numerous attempts to be seductive and sexy come across as bland and fail to inspire any engagement (no fault of Eva Green; she is merely being used in a boring way that doesn’t do her talent justice). Hell, watching these two respectable veterans converse about their disdain for one another, and murder contains no energy, despite the talkative script.
There does come a point in the last 15 minutes when all the cards are on the table, revealing a truth so ridiculous it might be worth watching, so long as one doesn’t have to sit through the preceding 75 minutes. That’s a glimpse of the enjoyable trash this could have been. This is a tropical island, wealth-based take on War of the Roses that yields snores more than war. One thing is for sure, audiences won’t be playing dead sitting through Just Play Dead, but rather fast asleep. Acting out the title would make for a better alternative than watching this.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder
