A postal investigator finds a note indicating a kidnapping, putting him in the dangerous sights of the kidnapper in Dead Mail, an unnerving, deliberate Shudder exclusive.
Dead Mail, from writer-director pair Kyle McConaghy & Joe DeBoer, immediately sets the story: a bloodied, beaten man hurriedly crawls from a home to shove a torn scrap of paper into a public mailbox just at the edge of his chain. He’s in luck. The letter finds its way to the local post office’s dead letter office, into the hands of the lonely operator: Jasper, finder of the lost. Jasper is deadly in his thoroughness. He knows how to hunt down anything and anyone from the slightest clue: tracking weather, old codes, an off-hand mention in a package address, or even calling a mysterious early Dark Web operator. He’s fascinating in the meticulous.
The film itself is the epitome of meticulousness in so many ways. McConaghy & DeBoer pace Dead Mail with an engaging click, methodical and measured. It’s a picture for the patient. That is not to say it is slow (though I foresee many a statement next to a Shudder-review skull saying just that) or even light. It’s a film of tone and atmosphere. But not dull. It’s deliberate and detailed. Pacing through until sudden, shocking violence. Dead Mail follows detailed people in a movie built on detail.
DeBoer & McConaghy revel in the meticulous design of their 1980s semi-rural Illinois world. From the outset, they film in the faded, uncomfortable soft found-VHS milieu. It’s an unsettling look, as often used to great effect in Shudder’s V/H/S films. Dead Mail is a disturbing beauty of production design. There’s a cursed tape look; something at first glance feels off. It’s the sad, 70s-leftovers 80s, far from the neon-lit over-doing it of culture, or even the closer to the truth but still stylized Stranger Things. It’s reminiscent of last year’s Longlegs, although that is of the 90s. It’s Longlegs via Jim Jarmusch, humming in low-key character work in a larger situation.
Like another recent and excellent Shudder release, The Rule of Jenny Pen (read my review to shameless plug myself), Dead Mail is refreshingly cast with older performers, following a trio of lonely middle-aged men. There’s a sadness in the affair, in looking at the lives of Jasper, the kidnapped, and the kidnapper. I will note that while Jasper is a mystery solver, the film presents the solution early. I was gearing up to watch the two ends of the story slowly approach, and was momentarily disappointed. But that’s alright. That’s not the point of the film; it’s a character piece, more concerned with the hows and whys of the characters and how they get to what we see at the start, and how they react.
Dead Mail is looking at the lives of the central men. And even with the sadness, there is a fascinating idiosyncratic nature to them and the remainder of the cast: Coenesque without the dark humor permeating their more noir-ish crime work; one could say Dead Mail abuts up to neo-noir.
The three actors all fit into the skin of their lived-in characters. Tomas Boykin imbues Jasper with a world-weary knowledge of an old soul. John Fleck’s Trent could be wildly overwrought if miscast, but comes through chilling and just off enough; the type of person who gives the heebie-jeebies without directly saying uncouth. Finally, Sterling Macer Jr. gives a soul to Josh, the kidnapped synthesizer programmer. He’s so damned likable.
Dead Mail is a film for those with perhaps particular tastes. Some viewers may find that dismissive. I get it, we all have our likes, and many want something running with Big Moments. But if you let a film simmer, soak in details and uncomfortable strangeness, all to explore a different set of people than we’re used to, you’ll be good. Even with my name drops and comparisons above, Dead Mail is a strange and unique film. It’s incredibly well put together, with a constant unease, and a set of great performances. Dead Mail… delivers!
