Daniel’s Gotta Die DVD Review (Brainstorm Media)

Daniel’s Gotta Die (aKa Killing Daniel) is a 2022 dark comedy edited and directed by Jeremy LaLonde (The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard, Ashgrove, How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town, The Go-Getters, and Sex After Kids). It was written by Matthew Dressel (The Pilot is Dead, Just Coffee, Let’s Kill John Stamos!, and Return to Menu). It was produced by Nicholas Tabarrok (Motel, Left Behind franchise, The Art of the Steal, Weirdsville, Cold Blooded, Numb, The Retirement Plan, Stockholm, and The Baker). This was comedian Bob Saget’s final performance before he passed away. Daniel Powell’s (played by: Joel David Moore from Spiral, Hatchet, Avatar franchise, The Guest, Grandma’s Boy, and Dodgeball) ultimate wish to reconnect with his siblings comes true when it’s his father Edward’s (played by: Iggy Pop from Dead Man) dying wish. Jessica (played by: Carly Chaikin from Mr. Robot), Mia (played by: Mary Lynn Rajskub from 24), and Victor (played by: Jason Jones from The Detour) are forced to spend the weekend together from shady lawyer Lawrence (played by: Bob Saget from Full/Fuller House) at the family beach house. He discovers they all want to murder him for his inheritance because he controls it all now. Daniel is finally going to know his family after all these years, even if it kills him!!!! Daniel’s Gotta Die reminds me of all of those wild darker comedies from the 90’s. They were pumping them out back in the day. They have really calmed down on the sub-genre, this is a nice return to it. Director Jeremy LaLonde puts a twisted spin on family reunion here. The script is hilarious, twisty, and non stop betrayal. Joel David Moore is so great at playing the typical nice guy and the person who is always positive. At first, some of his family is not on board with killing their own sibling until they spend more time with him. They all envy his power and he manages to annoy all of them in various different ways. I love his character arc in this. It’s one of his best roles so far. The legendary Bob Saget gives his final performance in this as the sneaky lawyer Lawrence. Most of these kids have treated him poorly over the years so he’s happy that they are forced to be together. He finds out that Edward left him nothing for all his loyal service so he changes his mind real quick when he figures out what is happening. Jason Jones as Victor is the brother that his family tries to manipulate into something really messed up during this trip. He gets caught in all the madness for the chaotic weekend. TV veterans Carly Chaikin and Mary Lynn Rajskub are Daniel’s vengeful sisters. They could care less about him and they will do whatever it takes to eliminate him. The rest of the supporting cast includes Iggy Pop, Chantel Riley (Suits/Pearson), Varun Saranga (Wynonna Earp), and Dax Ravina (The Retirement Plan). All of the family tries a variety of different brutal methods to kill Daniel but they continue to fail. I really enjoyed the morbid concept and honestly most of the characters were unlikable so you were rooting for them all to get knocked off somehow. It’s full of witty lines, violence, laughs, and some surprises. I’m really surprised that no one is talking about Daniel’s Gotta Die. I don’t think this independent comedy ever got a chance with anyone because it was such a small production. This is one of the most underrated features from 2022. This brand new DVD from Brainstorm Media has a solid (2.40:1) transfer. This doesn’t have an HD release at the moment so this DVD is currently the only option for home video. There’s no extras on the disc. It’s available for streaming on Plex if you want to watch it. It’s available everywhere right now including MovieZyng.com so check it out sometime. It’s loaded with talent and highly entertaining, RECOMMENDED!!!!