DEAD MAIL Review

Dead Mail grabs your attention right out of the gates. We aren't even five minutes in when we see Josh (Sterling Macer Jr.), who is chained and bound, desperately trying to crawl to a mailbox to drop off an SOS message.

The man responsible for the chains, Trent (John Fleck) isn't quite quick enough to prevent the SOS note from finding its way into the mailbox.

In the post office, two women responsible for correcting addresses on mail find Josh's note. However, they can't be sure as to whether this is a true cry for help or just somebody playing a prank. Unwilling to make that call on their own, they take the message to Jasper (Tomas Boykin), a dead letter investigator at the post office, for him to ultimately make the call on the validity of the message.

Jasper's response is short and sweet. He isn't paid to solve crimes, so it'll just have to remain a mystery.

During our brief time with Jasper, we learn that he is a part of some vast network of individuals who help other members locate people and/or addresses. After using his network to track down the owner of a missing necklace, Jasper turns back to the mysterious SOS message. The message doesn't have a complete address on it, so of course Jasper decides to use his network once again. This time, however, things don't go as smoothly for Jasper. As he's on the phone, Trent strolls into Jasper's office, picks up Jasper's own 3-hole punch, and tries to knock Jasper's head clean off his shoulders. When Trent realizes Jasper is still alive, he takes off his belt and finishes off Jasper.

If Trent was able to track down Jasper so easily, what won't he be able to get away with?

Furthermore, what does this mean for Josh's hopes of survival?

One thing that I really enjoyed was the sort of grainy feel we have throughout. Almost as-if we're watching an '80s home movie. It didn't necessarily help or hurt the film, it just happened to be something different and I can appreciate that.

Dead Mail didn't do itself any favors by never deciding what type of movie it wanted to be. It manages to be a horror/crime drama/thriller all at once. Unfortunately, while each aspect of the story is interesting, they never are able to cohesively come together. This ultimately leads to some wildly uneven pacing throughout. For me, personally, once I hit about the 50-minute mark I started to lose interest before realizing that I was still just short of the halfway point.

If there is one thing that Dead Mail left me wanting more of, it was Jasper. Give me an entire movie focused on him and his adventures of tracking down mail recipients. It wasn't long after his untimely demise that the movie as a whole started going downhill.

All of that being said, is Dead Mail still an entertaining watch? For the most part, yes.

Dead Mail played to a handful of festivals in 2024 and became available via a wide release on April 18, 2025. In the States, it is currently available to stream on Shudder. Though, if you aren't already subscribed, I wouldn't go out of your way to just for this.

🍿 SCORE = 70 / 100