Review: Dead Envy (2018), an ambitious and occasionally compelling thriller

Harley Di Nardo’s “Dead Envy” is a tale of obsession and of fandom taken to the next level. Although the picture has obvious budgetary limitations and sometimes stiff acting, which prevent it from truly feeling like a psychological mindboggler, it’s got enough honesty —especially through the way the central relationship is written— and ambition for it to end up winning over an audience. Just don’t watch the movie expecting something particularly complex, or as polished as a Hollywood studio production.

Di Nardo himself portrays our protagonist, aging rock musician David Tangiers. Despite running a successful business with his wife Cecily (Samantha Smart), he hasn’t given up on the idea of recording a comeback album. After all, he’s going through a rough patch, the kind that includes a stagnant sex life. After a mysterious new talent named Javy Bates (Adam Reeser) makes his way into David's life, Cecily tries to recruit him to help David with his music, only to find that he has an agenda of his own, one that involves obsession, revenge, and of course, death.

Anyone who grew up during the early 2000s should remember “Stan”, an Eminem song about a dangerously obsessive fan. “Dead Envy” has pretty much the same premise, although, being this a feature-length film, said obsession is taken to the next bloody level. This concept, then, should result in a suitably creepy end product, but that’s not necessarily the case. “Dead Envy” takes too much time to introduce its characters, their backstories, and the central conflict, which means a great portion of the movie is dedicated to casual conversations, rock concerts, and hair styling; not exactly thrilling material.

It’s when the character of Javy is properly included in the story, though, that “Dead Envy” picks up its pace. Reeser, looking remarkably like Domhnall Gleeson’s General Hux in the “Star Wars” sequels, plays him like a truly creepy dude. On the one hand, this makes one question both David and Cecily’s trust on him, but it also allows the story to unfold in a very disturbing way. The final reveal about Javy and the consequences of his actions, feel a little cartoony and over-the-top —I know we needed some blood in a picture like this, but still—, and the inclusion of a pseudo-paranormal character couldn’t be any more out of place, but the film has enough thrills to be kind of satisfying to those looking for a relatively intriguing experience.

Funnily enough, Di Nardo and his team seem to have a better grasp of normal, day-to-day conversations and the characterisation of the mundane, than of typical genre elements. The relationship between David and Cecily, for example, feels real; the fights, the conversations, the lack of sex, the financial problems… I don’t know if this material is based on any personal experience, but it feels casual enough and honest enough for it give a little credibility to a potentially absurd plot.

This so-called realism can be a little jarring, since characters such as Javy are presented in a more exaggerated manner, almost like caricatures of serial killers or sexual predators. His motivations aren’t really clear, and the reason why he resorts to doing what he ends up doing depends on an extremely contrived plot point  —let’s just say that everyone, especially an artist or musician, checks his or her e-mail account at least a couple of times a week. While David and Cecily feel like complex, slightly boring human beings, Javy and Dawn (the aforementioned paranormal character) seem to be in a completely different picture.

Some of these flaws can be attributed to a lack of polish to the screenplay or the direction, but the technical mistakes present in “Dead Envy” are, for the most part, related to a lack of budget. Camerawork is extremely stiff (due to a lack of dollies and cranes and steadicams, I suppose), blocking and framing are merely competent, and the direction of photography is uninspired (there’s only so much that can be done with a limited amount of lights). Most thrillers try to create an atmosphere through their visuals, but “Dead Envy” never really manages to accomplish this —the movie doesn’t look bad, but more could’ve been done with the material had the production had more resources or time.

If there is anything that does stand out, though, it’s the music. The soundtrack is comprised of many original songs by different bands, couple of them written by Di Nardo himself, and although none of them are spectacular, they definitely manage to give the movie a style of its own. In fact, a major plot point in “Dead Envy” is the fact that one of the characters is a very talented, undiscovered musician; having heard the songs he supposedly wrote and performed, this isn’t hard to believe.

“Dead Envy” never truly fulfils its potential. The main characters are believable and sympathetic enough (Di Nardo is a little flat as David, but Smart is compelling as Cecily) and the script has a lot to say about obsession and the state of the music industry in L.A. (especially when it comes to indie bands), but the film never really finds its footing, trying to be some sort of darkly humorous thriller and never fully succeeding. Visually, it’s extremely uninteresting (and some of the “special” effects are disappointingly poor) and although it definitely was made with the best of intentions, in the end, despite having quite the stellar soundtrack, “Dead Envy” didn’t manage to scare me enough or thrill me enough. And when it comes to thrillers, that’s a pretty significant problem, low-budget movie or not.