‘I Could Just Die and That Would Be All Right’ Review – Sad Girl Horror Runs
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
How do you not click on a title that goes ‘I Could Just Die and That Would Be All Right‘, if you’re a horror fan? Although, if the protagonist is truly okay with dying, watching them being hacked to death by a demon, ghost, monster, or serial killer might not be that entertaining, if it’s that kind of horror film.
With those thoughts, I streamed ‘I Could Just Die and That Would Be All Right‘, a nineteen-minute horror film written and directed by A.K. Espada. The story follows a woman who offers herself as a meal to a flesh-eating creature haunting the woods near her neighborhood, but instead of dying like she thought she would, she wakes up as an undead immortal creature. Talk about subversion of plans.
Courtney Locke plays the unnamed protagonist, a depressed young woman who likes to go running at 3:30 a.m. in the morning. Although at that point my brain was like: damn, that’s some next-level motivation for a person who wants to die. But okay, everybody has different ways to deal with melancholy, some go to sleep at 3:30 a.m., others go for a run then.
From the moment Courtney Locke’s character appears on screen, you can sense her despair and defeated outlook on life. So where she gets the strength to venture out for a run remains an amusing mystery, although perhaps it’s just her way to get away from her husband (played by Chris Mayers) and home. In a realistic choice, she wears no make-up and exudes a world-weary exhaustion that justifies the title: I Could Just Die and That Would Be All Right.
Most of the story is narrated through the young woman’s conversations with a suicide helpline, where she asks strange questions and admits to suicidal ideation. A dark, broody atmosphere pervades the runtime, with the short blending modern-day anxieties with folklore creature horror elements. Expect generous amounts of blood and gore too. Although, the exact source of the protagonist’s sorrows is never explained. It seems she is simply crumbling under the pressures of living a standard life and doing things that are ‘expected’ of her.
Since I saw this on YouTube, there was a director’s statement attached in the description of the film, which stated ‘I Could Just Die and That Would Be All Right‘ was the creator’s effort to show how sometimes one needs a life-changing miracle or ‘curse’ to jolt them out of their fugue state and appreciate life.
The way I perceived the story was completely different: the protagonist lives with a husband, a caring, nurturing type, making her pancakes and constantly encouraging her in different ways. “I don’t know if he is oblivious or delusional,” the wife wonders about her husband ignoring her deteriorating mental health. Although, it seems he is very well aware of the tense atmosphere and tries not to escalate tensions.
When his wife transforms into a blood-sucking monster, the film plays almost like a metaphor: some people drain the life out of others when they refuse to help themselves, dragging loved ones down in the process. The husband, unusually for this trope, is always there for her, enduring her lowest lows and letting her consume him bit by bit. What that means for their marriage, however, remains uncertain.
Overall, I Could Just Die and That Would Be All Right is an intriguing one-time watch that ends on a cryptic, abrupt note, leaving viewers to draw their own conclusions. Is it about breaking free from the clutches of depression through extreme, even dire means? Or is it about dysfunctional relationships, where one partner drains the other with their selfish inability to give back? ‘I Could Just Die and That Would Be All Right‘ leaves the answer open, making it as much a psychological reflection as it is a horror tale.
You can stream ‘I Could Just Die and That Would Be All Right’ on YouTube.
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