--- title: "Just Play Dead" year: 2026 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/just-play-dead" fi1m_id: "just-play-dead" imdb_id: "tt36948232" tmdb_id: 1480574 wikidata_id: "Q137534351" fi1m_score: 31 critics_reviews: 2 published: "2026-09-22T04:55:02.720867+00:00" updated: "2026-09-22T04:55:03.277872+00:00" region: "DE" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Just Play Dead (2026) Directed by Martin Campbell · 1h 37m · FSK 12 · Thriller, Crime ## Identity Just Play Dead - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/just-play-dead - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** just-play-dead - **IMDb ID:** tt36948232 - **TMDB ID:** 1480574 - **Wikidata ID:** Q137534351 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt36948232/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1480574, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q137534351 **Fi1m score: 31** · Critics: 2 of 6 reviews so far *In a sentence:* Jackson is having a lovely time and appears to be the only one told there was a comedy > Martin Campbell reunites with Eva Green for a crime comedy that plays like something found at the back of a video shop in 1998. It looks expensive and moves briskly, and Samuel L. Jackson enjoys himself; nobody else does, us included. ## Synopsis Jack Wolfe (Samuel L. Jackson) and Nora Wolfe (Eva Green) are husband and wife, and the tagline, ‘Til death do they part’, tells you roughly how well that is going. Somebody is going to play dead; the title says so. Around the Wolfes, Dan Gordon’s script arranges a supporting cast who arrive with their functions attached: Bianca (María Pedraza), Dani (Eoin Macken) and Chad (Jason Fernández) closest to the marriage, and Dr. Castro (Paulo Rivera), Sister Rachel (Nicole Ansari-Cox), a judge (Carlo Spano) and a sheik (César Martel) at the edges. Martin Campbell directs. It is a crime thriller with jokes, certified 18, and it runs 97 minutes. ## Review Martin Campbell has spent thirty years making films that know where to put the camera. [*GoldenEye*](https://film.one/film/goldeneye) (1995) and *Casino Royale* (2006) each brought Bond back from the dead, and neither is confusing for a second. *Just Play Dead* is a much smaller job: a 97-minute crime comedy from a script by Dan Gordon, about a marriage and a death that is not what it looks like. Samuel L. Jackson is the husband, Eva Green is the wife, and the title gives away the trick. The reviews so far are few and unkind, and we are not going to be the ones to rescue it. What Gordon has written is the kind of film that was everywhere in the late nineties, after [*Pulp Fiction*](https://film.one/film/pulp-fiction) (1994) had shown that crooks could talk, and it has not been updated since. The supporting cast come with labels rather than names: a Judge (Carlo Spano), a Sheik (César Martel), a Mr. Brody (Dar Dash), a Dr. Castro (Paulo Rivera), a Sister Rachel (Nicole Ansari-Cox). Each is a type with one trait, brought on when the plot needs turning and put away afterwards. We were bored by the second of them and irritated by the fourth, because the film plainly believes a colourful name is the same thing as a character, and it keeps introducing new ones rather than doing anything with the old. Jackson is the exception, and the critics who have written about the film so far noticed it too. He plays Jack Wolfe as a man who finds the whole business funny, which it occasionally is when he is talking, and he gives every line the same unhurried relish he gave far better lines thirty years ago. We laughed at him three or four times and were grateful each time. Green has less to work with. Nora Wolfe is a wife in a crime comedy, and the film never finds her anything more particular to be, so Green does what she can with a look and a pause. María Pedraza’s Bianca, Eoin Macken’s Dani and Jason Fernández’s Chad fill out the main cast, and are handsome and hard to tell apart. It looks, at least, as though money was spent. Giles Nuttgens shoots it glossily, everything clean and well lit, and the locations are the sort a producer books because they photograph well, and they do. Lola Villaescusa’s costumes give Green things to wear that the script does not give her to do. Alex Rodríguez cuts briskly enough that the 97 minutes do not feel like more, which is a mercy, and Robert Folk’s score works hard at telling us when to laugh. We cannot recall a bar of it. Campbell and Green have done this before. She was Vesper Lynd in *Casino Royale*, and the reunion is the most interesting fact about the film, which the film itself does not seem to have noticed. Campbell can still stage a scene so you know where everyone is standing; he cannot do anything about a script in which nobody standing there is worth watching. Anyone with an affection for the crime comedies of the late nineties, the ones with a name star above the title and not much beneath it, may find this a comfortable enough evening in. Everyone else should note that it is 97 minutes long, that Jackson is in most of them, and that this is as good as the news gets. *Fi1m score 31, published 22 September 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is Just Play Dead worth watching?** *Just Play Dead* is not worth watching for most people, and we scored it 31. Samuel L. Jackson enjoys himself as Jack Wolfe and made us laugh three or four times, but Dan Gordon's script surrounds him with types rather than characters and gives Eva Green almost nothing to do. Only those fond of late-nineties crime comedies with a star above the title will find it a comfortable evening. **How long is Just Play Dead, and what is it rated?** *Just Play Dead* runs 1h 37m and is rated 12 by the FSK in Germany. It is a thriller and crime film. **Where can I watch Just Play Dead in Germany?** *Just Play Dead* is not on any streaming or rental service in Germany at the moment. It is available in 5 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is Just Play Dead, and is it suitable for children?** *Just Play Dead* is certified 18 in the UK and R in the US, so it is not suitable for children. It is a crime thriller with jokes, built around a marriage and a death that is not what it looks like, and the certificate implies violence and adult language throughout. It is not a frightening film in the horror sense, but teenagers and the squeamish should look elsewhere. **How does Just Play Dead compare to Sexy Beast?** [*Sexy Beast*](https://film.one/film/sexy-beast) is the better film by a wide margin, and the one we recommend beside *Just Play Dead*. Both put a crook in the Spanish sun, but Jonathan Glazer's thriller knows what menace sounds like, and Ben Kingsley and Ray Winstone give its marriage something worth caring about. *Just Play Dead* is glossier and more jokey, and only Samuel L. Jackson seems to have been told. **What should I watch after Just Play Dead?** After *Just Play Dead*, try [*Sexy Beast*](https://film.one/film/sexy-beast) (2000, Fi1m 85): A retired crook in the Spanish sun, and a script that knows what menace sounds like. Then [*Jackie Brown*](https://film.one/film/jackie-brown) (1997, Fi1m 83): Jackson talking crooks’ talk when the talk was worth the time; and [*Casino Royale*](https://film.one/film/casino-royale) (2006, Fi1m 86): Campbell and Green together when it counted; see what the reunion is missing. ### Reviews we read (2) - **Variety**, Todd Gilchrist (30/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a dated, tortuous crime comedy reminiscent of lesser late-'90s Tarantino knockoffs that feels more like a tax shelter than a proper yarn. Campbell delivers glossy visuals and locations but fails to recapture past chemistry or excitement. [Read](https://variety.com/2026/film/reviews/just-play-dead-review-samuel-l-jackson-1236844910/) - **RogerEbert.com**, Craig D. Lindsey (20/100, inferred): The critic dismisses it as a dull, baffling basic-cable-grade stinker and tiresome derivative quasi-pulp with uninteresting cast and characters stuck in the '90s. Jackson alone seems to enjoy himself amid the lackluster execution. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/just-play-dead-samuel-l-jackson-eva-green-movie-review-2026) ## Details - **Director:** Martin Campbell - **Director:** Martin Campbell - **Writer:** Dan Gordon - **Cinematography:** Giles Nuttgens - **Editor:** Alex Rodríguez - **Music:** Robert Folk - **Costume design:** Lola Villaescusa - **Producer:** Phil Hunt, Valentin Dimitrov, Sagiv Diamant - **Cast:** Samuel L. Jackson as Jack Wolfe; Eva Green as Nora Wolfe; María Pedraza as Bianca; Eoin Macken as Dani; Jason Fernández as Chad; Paulo Rivera as Dr.Castro; Nicole Ansari-Cox as Sister Rachel; Lee Boardman as Miguel - **Runtime:** 1h 37m - **Certificate (FSK):** 12 - **Release (Germany):** 27 November 2026 - **Genres:** Thriller, Crime - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfpPh2pW0Oo ## Where to watch in Germany Not streaming, renting or buying in Germany at the last check. Also available in: AU, BE, NL, NZ, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Sexy Beast* (2000), Fi1m 85: A retired crook in the Spanish sun, and a script that knows what menace sounds like — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/sexy-beast.md) - *Jackie Brown* (1997), Fi1m 83: Jackson talking crooks’ talk when the talk was worth the time — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/jackie-brown.md) - *Blood Simple* (1984): A marriage, a murder and a body that will not behave, done properly - *Nine Queens* (2000): Argentine con-artist thriller where every turn is earned and nobody is a label - *Casino Royale* (2006), Fi1m 86: Campbell and Green together when it counted; see what the reunion is missing — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/casino-royale.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/just-play-dead