Important characters in works of fiction can survive all kinds of physical damage that would kill normal humans many times over. Impalements, shootings, stabbings, moderate immolations—all are fair game for survival if the narrative demands it. But no matter how important the supporting character (and occasionally protagonist) is, few threats are more deadly than hearing the utterance “don’t die on me,” a clear signal that, in order to raise dramatic stakes, it’s time to die.
Don’t Die On Me is part of Supercut Video’s weekly series exploring clichéd phrases on the silver screen. This roughly minute-and-a-half video represents a breadth of films from Mo Money to Pulp Fiction, but still only scratches the surface of film’s long and storied history of men and women holding other men and women, imploring them not to die as the light leaves their eyes.