Marry My Dead Body (2023)

I've seen a lot of bizarre films, but nothing quite like the Taiwanese comedy Marry My Dead Body. Yes even the title is extremely odd. It's a comedy, and a mystery, and it's supernatural, and it's a film raising awareness about the queer experience, and it's... well, it must be seen to be believed. Here is the premise; a homophobic cop is reluctantly married in a ghost marriage ceremony (a traditional Chinese practice of a living person marrying someone who has passed away) to a man whose ghost then haunts him until they solve the mystery of who killed him. 

Really. That's really the plot.

But the most remarkable part is that it mostly works. The film leans into the absurd a lot (no kidding) but it's heart is in the right place. Hsu's cop is stereotypically homophobic and to no one's surprise comes around to understanding that love is love, while Lin's ghost is rather stereotypically gay and their odd couple relationship often feels pretty by-the-book. Even the ghost elements feel a bit been-there-done-that. But despite all this, the film remains endlessly entertaining.

The film reflects some of the cultural differences between Western and Taiwanese perceptions of queerness. Often the film jars a Western audience with how often the F word is thrown around (yes in a way that we are supposed to see as a failing of the main character but still it is said A LOT) as we're not used to hearing it used for humour any longer. It would be harder for an American film to give the bigoted main character the redemption arc this film gives him. And Lin's portrayal of a gay man often falls into what feels like parody. But again, in this context the film works. 

A big part of what makes it work is the film's earnestness. The chemistry between Hsu and Lin is great and they comedically play off each other very well. And in the end the story is rather sweet despite some of its clumsiness. But perhaps the thing that sold me was the pure weirdness of the whole thing. The film just embraces its odd premise and runs with it so even when it does something cringy (which is a lot) it just feels so damn forthright. 

And perhaps it is just one of those film that you need to see once just to say you have experienced the truly odd Marry My Dead Body. 

Marry My Dead Body

Starring: Greg Hsu, Austin Lin, Gingle Wang

Director: Cheng Wei-hao

Writers: Sharon Wu, Cheng Wei-hao