SXSW Film Review: We're All Gonna Die

Everything was once unprecedented, and, with each passing year, it feels like we’re experiencing more of what was once unheard of. But then, incredible things happen, and no matter how much we’re intrigued or outraged at first, all that was once unthinkable becomes an eerie new normal.

In South by Southwest world premiere We’re All Gonna Die, an alien spike resembling an iridescent pillar touches down near the Sun Belt. A brief montage of cable networks, conspiracy theorists, and online activists swells then overlaps until a cut to the near future – 12 years and 1,438 “jumps” later – where things are, well, normal. For Thalia (Ashly Burch), her quiet life as a beekeeper in Arizona looks just like ours, save for the giant space tentacle that towers in the horizon.

We’re All Gonna Die, directed by web series Video Game High School co-creators Freddie Wong and Matthew Arnold, captures Thalia bottling in grief from a recent tragedy while struggling to pay the bank and keep her honey business afloat. She’s traveling to a buyer with hive boxes in tow when a near-accident introduces her to a charming EMT, Kai (Jordan Rodrigues). They have instant chemistry, but the moment is ruined when the extraterrestrial spike “jumps” locations, teleporting her cargo and his car across the country. Reluctantly, Thalia lets Kai hitch a ride as they embark on an emotional road trip through the American West to retrieve their belongings.

The tight script from Wong and Arnold avoids veering into overly sentimental terrain with humorous banter sprinkled throughout. Burch and Rodrigues are superb, seamlessly navigating the grief and growth of loss. Several of their shared scenes, in the process of revealing more about their pasts, come close to outright sorrow, but the screenplay routinely lightens the mood. Thalia and Kai are troubled, yes, but they’re genuinely good for each other. Though the world may have turned upside down when the spike showed up, they make one another happy and that’s enough, a theme constantly returned to.

“Just find something that keeps you going and hang onto it,” Thalia tells Kai when asked how she copes. In a way, the world of We’re All Gonna Die, unexplainable alien presence notwithstanding, says a lot about our own. From a global pandemic to climate change and all the unprecedented events converging in between, the plot toward death isn't so bad when you have someone who makes you happy just to be along for the ride.

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We’re All Gonna Die

Narrative Feature Competition, World Premiere

Tuesday, March 12, 9:45pm, Rollins Theater at The Long Center
Wednesday, March 13, 5:15pm & 5:45pm, Violet Crown Cinema

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