Overview: Ellis and Drayton have been sent from London on a job. Things go wrong when Drayton has a seizure forcing them to stop at a vineyard owned by Joni and Cora. Things unravel when others arrive and Ellis’ lies catch up to them.

DVD Verdict: Interestingly, Dead on the Vine was shot during the easing of the first UK Covid19 lock-down. Frustrated at the shutting down of the film industry during this time, writers Laura and Mark Brown came together and came up with the idea of making a feature with all the people that were out of work. Having been given access to Tillingham Wines 77 acre vineyard Mark and Laura put wrote and produced the film in just two months.

As for the film itself, well, chock full of interesting characters and great storytelling, all cloaked in a healthy dollop of dark humor, I have nothing but good things to say about Dead On The Vine.

The storyline is not that complicated, and as much as it follows somewhat none tropes it still manages to seem fresh and curiously inventive. We watch along as a couple of hoteliers find themselves in trouble when a couple of criminals call in looking for help.

But being filmed in the East Sussex countryside of England helps propel what could be an age old story into one where the look of the English countryside makes it rather appealing to the eye (no matter what trope is being ridden at the time).

Brothers Ellis (David Whitney) and Drayton (Tom Sawyer) are travelling back to London, when Drayton suffers an epileptic seizure which forces his brother to call in at the aforementioned remote hotel to ask for the aforementioned help.

The couple running the Hotel, Joni (Victoria Johnstone) and Cora (Shereener Browne) invitingly welcome them inside, happy smiling faces beaming brightly, but soon enough Cora becomes suspicious of the two men. Especially given Drayton’s increasingly erratic behavior once he awakens from his bout of unconsciousness.

But the women quickly discover what the brothers have in the trunk of their car and, trust me, things take a very dark turn thereafter! The trouble is the police are, as we speak, putting roadblocks up due to reports of a robbery in their vicinity.

Oh and add to that, the hoteliers are expecting guests for an exclusive wine tasting party that very same evening and so with everyone now under the same roof, and the police getting closer, the comedy of errors has well and truly begun!

Coming complete with some inventive plot twists and some very bloody killings, the level of darkly black humor is just perfect to help guide the dialogue. Thus, Dead On The Vine comes highly recommended.

Official Movie Trailer