Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles (2011)

An urban mystery unfurls as one man pieces together the surreal meaning of hundreds of cryptic tiled messages that have been appearing in city streets across the U.S. and South America.

Director:

Jon Foy

Writers:

Jon Foy, Colin Smith

Stars:

Justin Duerr, Colin Smith, Steve Weinik

Cast

Credited cast:
Justin Duerr
Colin Smith
Steve Weinik

Storyline

Strangeness is afoot. Most people don't notice the hundreds of cryptic tiled messages about resurrecting the dead that have been appearing in city streets over the past three decades. But Justin Duerr does. For years, finding an answer to this long-standing urban mystery has been his obsession. He has been collecting clues that the tiler has embedded in the streets of major cities across the U.S. and South America. But as Justin starts piecing together key events of the past he finds a story that is more surreal than he imagined, and one that hits disturbingly close to home.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 August 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Powstanie umarlych: Zagadka plytek Toynbee

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$3,054 (USA) (2 September 2011)

Gross:

$14,861 (USA) (9 September 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Land of Missing Parts Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Justin Duerr: Well, stranger things have happened.
[pause]
Justin Duerr: Nah, that's not true. Nothing stranger has ever happened.

User Reviews

A true modern mystery

In today's world true mysteries are hard to come by. It seems now if you can't figure out something you simply hop on a computer and do a Google search to find the answer. For example, recently I was stumped by a plague of fruit flies in my house and couldn't seem to get rid of the pests. So after about 3 days of annoyance I jumped on my laptop and typed "how to get rid of fruit flies?" and as easy as that there was recipe to create your own homemade fruit fly trap using a glass, paper and some juice. Mystery solved! In Resurrect Dead the film-makers were stuck in actual mystery that could not be solved with a simple internet search. They dived into a mystery that seemed impossible to solve. For years they were dumbstruck to how the existence of these tiles had ended up on the streets of many metropolitan areas in the eastern seaboard of the US. The documentary brilliantly paces itself into all the years of research, dead ends, and small glimpses of possibilities that shouldn't be ruled out. For me I was enthralled with their logical approach and deduction of where these tiles were coming from and what their message meant. In a way the documentary really motivated me have a mystery to solve in my life. Or an overarching goal that drives me to find what is the truth in this situation? Today it's easy just to go through the normal phases of life and just exist in the norm of what the world says is a good life. But I think we all have unique opportunities that sometimes come in the form of mysteries that only we can solve!