Review: Teen comedy 'Darby and the Dead' has a fun premise, but doesn't know how to give it life

With rare exceptions (such as the “Predator” prequel “Prey”), movie studios usually call it right when they debut a movie on streaming instead of theaters — and that’s the case with “Darby and the Dead,” a teen comedy that’s not quite as fun as its premise.

Darby Harper (Riele Downs) calls herself a “hermit crab” in the social ecosystem of her high school, mostly keeping to herself — except for her lunchtime chess games with the school’s groundskeeper, Gary (Tony Danza). There’s just one small problem: Gary has been dead for the last three years, and Darby is the only person in school who can see him.

Ever since a swimming accident when she was 7 — the same accident that took her mother’s life — Darby has been able to see and talk to dead people. She has used that gift for her side hustle, helping souls finish up their unsettled business so they can “cross over” to the afterlife. (Darby’s other gift is being able to see the audience, so she narrates to the camera throughout the film.)

Darby’s status as an outcast at Frederick Douglass High School is suiting her well — until she has a run-in with the school’s most popular girl, Capri (played by Auli’i Cravalho, the voice of Moana), in the locker room. After bullying Darby, Capri lands in a pool of water and is electrocuted by a malfunctioning hair straightener.

The now-deceased Capri now won’t leave Darby alone, refusing to “cross over” unless Darby encourages the school’s surviving popular girls to carry on with Capri’s planned birthday bash. To make that happen, Capri gives Darby a crash course in becoming a Mean Girl, so she’ll fit in with Capri’s old clique.

That all sounds fun — a John Hughes movie with a little M. Night Shyamalan thrown in — the execution is lackluster. Director Silas Howard makes school life and the afterlife a little too candy-colored, and not very distinguishable from each other. And the rules of Capri’s post-life powers, as compiled in writer Becca Greene’s screenplay, are too arbitrary to be any real fun.

When “Darby and the Dead” is working, it’s when Downs and Cravalho square off, their sweet-and-salty chemistry providing laughs that the script misses out on. They give this teen trifle a little bite. 

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‘Darby and the Dead’

★★1/2

Starts streaming Friday, December 2, on Hulu. Rated PG-13 for strong language, suggestive material and some teen partying. Running time: 100 minutes.