“Over Your Dead Body” Cranks the Violent Humor

Over Your Dead Body (Jorma Taccone, 2026) 3 out of 5 stars

I have not seen the 2021 Norwegian film I Onde Dager (released in the English-speaking world as The Trip), but based on its Hollywood remake, Over Your Dead Body, I imagine it to be a good deal of fun. In fact, directed by Tommy Wirkola, who later made the 2022 Violent Night—a movie I thoroughly enjoyed—it probably rocks. At the helm of this new version, Lonely Island member Jorma Taccone keeps the action, humor, and blood flowing nicely, even if at times the story strains against multiple tonalities and plot points.

The premise is simple enough. Or is it? A washed-up film director, Dan (Jason Segel, Windfall), now stuck in making-commercials hell, wants to kill his wife, Lisa (Samara Weaving, Borderline), an actress also past her prime. So he plans a getaway to their cabin in the woods. The catch? She’s also planning to kill him.

Further complicating the increasingly convoluted (but thoroughly enjoyable) narrative is Dan’s wannabe bestie, Henry (Jake Curran, The Owners), who shows up to help but then gets in the way, and a trio of escaped convicts—make that two escapees and the prison guard who helped them—played with gusto by Timothy Olyphant (Amsterdam), Keith Jardine (She Rides Shotgun), and Juliette Lewis (DreamQuil). Dan’s father, Michael (Paul Guilfoyle, Arthur the King) also plays an important role, and Kumail Nanjiani (Ella McCay) shows up for a delightful cameo. The ensemble, coupled with the best parts of the script, make this work.

Part of the additional thrill is watching the shenanigans unfold, wondering just how far Taccone will take things. After all, it’s not like he and his Lonely Island colleagues ever pulled cinematic punches in their SNL shorts. Here, he leans into the extremes of cartoonish violence in a manner that would make the Road Runner blush.

It’s this very tendency that is both a positive and occasional negative. What else could happen? Who’s going to be injured or killed next? Will it make a lick of sense? Does that matter?

Segel is his usual simultaneous hangdog and manic self, which is effective as he navigates the tricky dual territory of hunter and hunted. Weaving, a veteran of many a bloodfest, is right at home in the action, using Segel as a comic foil for her cunning. It helps that Dan clearly thinks she’s an idiot (she is not), so she can take advantage of his delusions.

In the end, love triumphs over everything, though not before a rising body count appropriate to the title. There’s plenty of gross stuff for those who crave it, and a certain finesse in the other moments. It’s good for a laugh and a rush, at the very least.