Back in Black

Christopher Walken’s performance as a memorably foul-mouthed mortician is just one reason Back In Black is one of the funniest films you may see this year. The inimitable screen icon stars in director Ron Murphy’s deliciously macabre black comedy as Clyde Mortimer, the patriarch in charge of a funeral home in a sleepy small town whose health-conscious inhabitants just aren’t dying at the rate his business requires.

Weighed down by the sight of Clyde and his beloved wife Autumn (Jane Curtin) having to struggle so much in their golden years, their taciturn granddaughter Sam (Ella Ballentine, Black Conflux, TIFF ‘19) happens upon a potential means of reversing the clan’s decline. Soon enough, people all around town are falling prey to “accidents” that help provide the Mortimer Family Funeral Home with a bounty of new clients.

A sabre-toothed satire about the zero-sum thinking and ethical flexibilities that prevail in even the most seemingly idyllic corners of polite society, Back In Black brandishes a loopy and unpredictable sense of humour thanks to the contributions of a terrific cast. Demonstrating the comedy chops he developed as a longtime director of shows such as Trailer Park Boys and Jann, Murphy ensures that his performers’ boldest moments and the wildest turns in the script he co-wrote with Nick Torokvei land with the requisite bravura. Just as delightful are Walken’s streams of invective and expressions of glee as an undertaker who can’t believe his change in luck.

JASON ANDERSON

Content advisory: coarse language, sexual content (innuendo, language), violence