Since it’s 2024 Virtual Premier at Panic Fest we have been eagerly following the journey of the gripping crime thriller ‘Don’t Die‘ as the team behind it worked to get it released to a wide audience. Now we’re excited to give you an exclusive look at the trailer!
I was able to check out this film about the desperation of being poor and sick in America during it’s Panic Fest run and the story, that deftly blurs the lines between heroes and villains, coupled with excellent performances made this one of my favorites of the fest! ‘Don’t Die‘ takes the real life horror of navigating the American healthcare system and imagines how much more dangerous it can get when misguided desperation takes over.
The cast, who already had some first rate credentials before filming ‘Don’t Die‘ have gone on to further pad their resumes in the ensuing months, a testament to how good they are! Theodus Crane who you might recognize from Season 3 of AMC’s The Walking Dead and ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s‘ has gone on to be featured in ‘Sinners‘ and the upcoming ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.’ Joshua Burge has appeared in the Oscar-winning ‘The Revenant‘ as well as the Oscar-nominated ‘20th Century Women‘ and most recently was in ‘Vulcanizadora‘ which premiered at last summer’s Tribeca Film Festival. Rounding out the cast are Virginia Newcomb (‘The Death of Dick Long‘), Frank Mosley (‘The Ghost Who Walks‘), Carl Palmer (‘Killers of the Flower Moon‘), Cindy Jefferson (‘For Better Or Worse‘) and Leilani Smith (HBO Max’s Only You).
This well crafted film is the second feature for director Benjamin Stark who co-wrote the script with writer Jeremy Burgess. In addition to our beloved Panic Fest ‘Don’t Die‘ has made it’s way through a handful of other festivals including Birmingham, Alabama’s Sidewalk Film Festival (where it won an audience award), the Oxford Film Festival, the Orlando Film Festival, the Montgomery Film Festival and the Magnolia Independent Film Festival.
Following a limited theatrical run ‘Don’t Die‘ is now available to own on DVD and will hit streaming services in the fall. Follow them on social media to keep up with release details!
Synopsis:
Desperate for life-saving medicine, Jenks resorts to robbing a drug store in small-town Tennessee, but he winds up injuring a mysterious woman named Julia. When he and his friend Randy try to take her to a nearby hospital, Julia gives them a burner phone and tells them to take her to a remote location instead. They arrive at a modest country home that serves as the headquarters of a black market pharmacy called The Counter, and Jenks is presented with a deal: He can lay low for a few days as long as he doesn’t blow the group’s cover, and Randy will pick him up once the coast is clear. As Jenks begins meeting more people from The Counter, including Sally and Trevor, he learns about all the good they’re doing in their community by stealing medicine and distributing it for free to people who can’t afford it. He soon learns that The Counter is dealing with some internal disagreements as well, and he realizes that they are not the sort of group that he wants to be at war with.
