This 2025 Comedy Proves Truly Independent Cinema Is Still Alive

Everyone says they love "indie cinema," but ask five film lovers what that actually means and you'll get six different answers. For some, it's the curated cool of A24, Mubi, or Neon, the prestige-adjacent houses that operate just far enough outside the studio system to keep their street cred while still chasing Oscar gold. For others, "independent" means grainy student films uploaded to YouTube in 720p where they quietly fade into algorithmic oblivion. Sure, all indie films technically live under the same roof (no studio bumper, no IP), but they're not exactly equals at the family reunion.

This brings us to "D(e)ad," a new autobiographical dark comedy written by and starring Dropout fan favorite Isabella Roland ("The Sex Lives of College Girls") and directed by veteran multi-hyphenate Claudia Lonow — who also happens to be Roland's mom. The film follows Tillie (Roland), a young woman who's not exactly devastated when her charismatic charlatan of a long-absent father dies of cancer. But her emotional detachment gets more complicated when his ghost begins haunting the entire family ... just not her. It's the kind of film that would've had a million-dollar budget, ukulele score, and a Sundance slot in 2009 — but these days, if you're not backed by a famous IP or franchise, good luck getting it made, let alone seen.

"There are stories that aren't being told by studios right now," reads the film's wildly successful Kickstarter. "Independent stories that are messy, daring, and make audiences feel something meaningful." And "D(e)ad" is precisely that: a fiercely specific, deeply personal film brought to life by a team of creatives hoping to make you laugh, cry, and feel less alone. And now, thanks to a fan-driven campaign, this truly independent film is screening in 100+ theaters around the world.

It deserves a sold-out house every single time — because "D(e)ad" is an absolute delight.

An unfortunate reality is that when a person dies, regardless of how terrible they were while they were still part of the moral realm, people are quick to martyr them. Even with the knowledge that Tillie's father, Daniel (a hilariously sleazy Craig Bierko), was the kind of man who stole money from his ex-wife, called his daughter the c-word when she was 11, and lived in his car parked in the driveway belonging to his eldest daughter, Violet (the always brilliant Vic Michaelis), Tillie is struggling to care about her dad's passing. When you're the only member of your family to truly cut ties with someone, being isolated in that experience can start to make you feel like you're a heartless ghoul, even without the complication of your dad "Poltergeisting the house" or terrorizing a Jewish exorcism for attention.

Clocking in at just over 80 minutes, "D(e)ad" is a brisk treat in a cinematic landscape that often confuses length for depth. Sure, it's visibly an indie film made on a modest budget and filmed in the real-life homes and apartments of the actors on screen, but that only adds to the movie's charm and makes its frenetic oner and in-camera mirror effects even more impressive. All of the characters are fully realized and well-defined, and Roland plays right into all of their strengths, including her own. She even cast her husband, Brennan Lee Mulligan ("Dimension 20"), as a customer service representative for the company handling David's body. Even without sharing the screen together, Roland and Mulligan's comedic and romantic chemistry is off the charts.

Because "D(e)ad" is based on Roland's own process dealing with the death of her real-life complicated father, and the cast is primarily composed of members of her real family, including her mother (Lonow), grandparents (Mark Lonow and Joanne Astrow), and mother's longtime partner (Jonathan Schmock), the emotional center is palpable. It feels like we're peering into the lives of a family, because we are. The world they've presented feels lived in, because it is, but with the sharp direction of a TV veteran. 

But the film lives and dies  — no pun intended — on Roland's performance. One pivotal scene sees Tillie going through the remains of her father's dilapidated apartment, using every bit of emotional strength she has in the hopes it will be enough for his ghost to finally appear to her in the mirror. It's a moment of fearless delivery for a performer the general public is used to making broad comedic gestures (Roland is responsible for the Google Chrome extension that allows you to add a cartoon butthole buddy to episodes of Dropout's "Game Changer"), as well as a deeply vulnerable examination of the messy mourning process. It's the emotional crux of the dark comedy, and also where the film feels the most cinematic.

You can resent someone you love, and you can mourn someone you hate ... and sometimes, that's the same person.

I was fortunate to catch the very first public screening of "D(e)ad" at the North Hollywood Laemmle theater with the cast in attendance, the kick-off of the film's tour of independent cinemas across the world. Understandably, there were many people in the audience who only knew Roland from Dropout (as evident by the hooting and hollering when fellow Dropout cast members like Michaelis, Mulligan, and Zac Oyama appeared on screen), but the energy in the room was electric. This was an audience who wanted to support a movie because they believed in the people making it and craved seeing a film that was unlike anything else playing at the megaplexes in the next neighborhood over.

The general admission line was packed nearly an hour before showtime, the laughs were as loud as they were in my theater for "The Naked Gun," and there was a chorus of sniffles as members of the audience in the "Dead Dads Club" gave themselves over to Tillie's emotional turmoil. It was a moving experience because I honestly can't remember the last time I sat in a sold-out theater for a movie that didn't boast a Hollywood A-lister, auteur director, or distribution company label that doubles as a core part of a cinephile's personality. Anyone who has watched even just a social media clip of Roland on Dropout knows that she's ridiculously talented, but "D(e)ad" makes for a hell of a calling card as a comedy writer.

It's so refreshing to see a truly independent film made outside of the usual systems find success by playing on its own terms and not relying on any of the traditional pathways or gatekeepers for permission. The audience loved it, and I did too. It's the perfect example of the type of stories that we should be funding, but we should all be grateful to exist in a world where creatives like Roland & Family can make their art without it anyway.

To find a screening of "D(e)ad" or request one for your local independent theater, visit Deadthefilm.com.