Quick Take: This high-concept art house thriller imagines a reality where there is no escaping tomorrow’s impending death.

Amy Seimetz has death on her mind. In the writer/director’s second feature film, a young woman is–without a doubt–convinced that she is dying tomorrow. There is no context to assume why she believes this, it’s an easy guess that Amy (Kate Lyn Sheil), who struggles with alcohol dependency, is suicidal and severely depressed. However, as She Dies Tomorrow progresses, we realize that Amy’s self-imposed death sentence isn’t of her own volition, rather a mysterious power has overcome her. And the worst part is, the self-fulfilling premonition is contagious and passes to everyone she comes into contact with.

From Amy (Sheil) to her friend Jane (Jane Adams) to Jane’s brother (Chris Messina) and sister-in-law (Katie Aselton), the paranoia and then ultimate acceptance of death rapidly spreads. Despite its heavy subject matter, She Dies Tomorrow is a dark comedy in every sense of the word. The absurdist humor is rampant, much like the Greek weird wave films of Yorgos Lanthimos. The film also feels like a nod to the psychological thrill of David Robert Mitchell’s 2014 It Follows, as both films rely heavily on the imaginary superhuman power that torments the protagonists.

Seimetz is a fan of the long take, which works extremely well in adding suspense to the story. The naturalness of the long takes plus the restrained performances from the cast make the supernatural moments even more unexpected and shocking, leading us to question how far-fetched is this, really? By the film’s end, we’re left with a head-scratcher: We all have to die at some point. Why not tomorrow?

Distributed by NEON, She Dies Tomorrow is available on VOD this Friday.