Zeed’s ‘Dead With a Side of Saudade’ is a dark comedy/fantasy short from Hong Kong that blends the afterlife with an eccentric sense of humor. With strong, charismatic performances from Inderjeet Singh and Vida Wu, the film thrives on its quirky writing and an absurdist streak that keeps things refreshingly unpredictable. It jumps between humor and melancholy, embracing the poetic weight of saudade while making room for the bizarre, the unexpected, and the delightfully eccentric.
The narrative opens on a sun-drenched afternoon, where a man (Inderjeet Singh) and a woman (Vida Wu) sit for tea in a peaceful picnic scene. It is Hong Kong under British rule. The woman, an actress draped in elegant, bygone-era attire, reminisces about a forbidden love – another woman, lost to the constraints of their time. The man, a British Indian soldier, recounts his own fate – his death in battle. The past seeps into the present as they unpack their stories, their demise, and the inescapable truth that they are both dead.
The film’s aesthetic is exquisite, thanks to Yuan Sui’s glorious cinematography. The sound design is equally commendable. Zeed’s direction embraces the offbeat, balancing heartfelt emotions with a quirkiness that keeps the film from drowning in poignancy. The characters, despite their tragic endings, brim with life, their dialogues sharp, their interactions laced with irony.
A deceased NASA dog enters the frame towards the climax – an absurd, unexpected punchline that shifts everything. It’s bizarre. It’s brilliant. It reminds us that life, however short it may be, is meant to be laughed at just as much as mourned.
‘Dead With a Side of Saudade’ is wholly original – an ode to life, death, and everything in between, with a side of the surreal. A worthy watch.
