Sundance 2025: Didn’t Die and Rains Over Babel
Though these two films, Didn’t Die and Rains Over Babel, are very different stories, they are tied together by ideas of mortality. One explores death and survival in a dark horror-drama about family and culture, the other is a vibrant, frantic interpretation of Dante’s Inferno.
Didn’t Die (Meera Menon)
Vinita (Kiran Deol) and her brother Rish (Vishal Vijayaumar) travel the country as Vinita produces her podcast in a post-apocalyptic world. She’s become a hardened, proficient killer of “Biters,” while he’s yet to have his first. In preparation for her hundredth episode, they return to their hometown for a live show and stay with their eldest brother Hari (Samrat Chakrabarti) and his vivacious wife Barbara (Katie McCuen), who loves wearing cocktail dresses and Bedazzled her spear that she uses to kill “Biters.” Then her ex-boyfriend Vincent (George Basil) arrives at the show, carrying a baby he rescued, and everything changes.
The fact that a group of people are willing to leave the safety of their homes for this podcast is a testament to the community Vinita has developed since the outbreak began, and says something about how media can foster that community and help people feel less alone in times of struggle. The film touches on concepts of fear, regret, grief, and culture in an interesting way, without feeling forced. Cinematographer Paul Gleason’s high-contrast black-and-white cinematography is beautiful and in many ways reminiscent of George A. Romero’s landmark film Night of the Living Dead, and along with the editing by Geoff Boothby, they deliver some of the film’s best work. The pacing is at times uneven and deprives us of some of the emotional impact; However, the third act delivers in terms of horror and character development, bolstered by Menon and Paul Gleason’s script.
Rains Over Babel (Gala del Sol)
Rather than sulk in black-and-white, Gala de Sol’s feature-film debut, Rains Over Babel (or Llueve sobre Babel) is defiantly and vibrantly in color. Centered around a dive bar-cum-purgatory where La Flaca (Saray Rebolledo), the city’s Grim Reaper, does business, interwoven stories follow a curious cast of characters. Babel is run by Gian Salai (John Alex Castillo) and his son (Jose Mojica), who hope to keep the loan sharks away. Meanwhile, Dante (Felipe Aguilar Rodríguez) does La Flaca’s dirty work collecting souls, including Monet’s (Johan Zapata), and Uma (Celina Biurrun) tries whatever she can to place one more bet with La Flaca to save someone she loves. Jacob (William Hurtado), son of a homophobic pastor, hides his true self from his family while El Boticario (Santiago Pineda) tends the bar and his wife Erato (Sofia Buenaventura) acts as a guardian angel for some.
Rains Over Babel is, in a word, stunning. Its set design, lighting, and cinematography are so bold and bring such a focused vision to life in a way that recalls Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet. Also written by del Sol, the film takes the Inferno, incorporates Colombian culture, salsa music, and queer joy, and the result is emotional, beautiful, and chaotic. From BDSM fistfight amid neon glows to blacklight Death Drops, this film never lets you know its next move. It’s not only to be viewed; it’s to be absorbed.
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