Filmmaker Jeff Baena says Dane DeHaan helps make 'Life After Beth' ''believable''.

The 27-year-old actor plays Zach Orfman in the zombie comedy and Baena - who also wrote the script - insists the presence of a ''dramatic'' actor among comedic stars, including Aubrey Plaza, John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon ''raised the stakes'' since audiences can ''relate'' to him.

In an interview with Collider.com, he said: ''Most of the actors in the film are comedic actors, except for Dane who is a generally dramatic actor. I think that casting a dramatic actor in that part grounded it more and it raised the stakes and made it a little bit more believable. As the world is kind of going crazy we at least have this touchstone of someone we can relate to.''

The film is based on Plaza's character, schoolgirl Beth, returning to life after she died in a hiking accident and her boyfriend Zach is shocked but delighted when he finds she's back.

Baena admits aspects of the film are ''unreal'' but wants the emotional side of the story to be reflective of the truth.

He explained: ''I think I just minimised anything that felt unreal. I mean, there's definitely stuff that is unreal and insane and absurd and surreal, but just anything that didn't ring emotionally true I tried to avoid it and if anything felt too jokey I tried to avoid it.''