We Bury the Dead

Starring: Daisy Ridley, Brenton Thwaites, Mark Coles Smith, Matt Whelan

Director: Zak Hilditch

After a catastrophic event hits Tasmania, which renders all life to an unconscious state, American Ava (Ridley) arrives in an effort to find her husband Mitch (Whelan) who was there on a business trip. Amid reports that some of the unconscious wake up and become active again, she hopes her husband to be one of these cases. Unfortunately for her, a massive fire blocks her way and she must volunteer in body retrieval until it lets up. Eventually, she and her retrieval partner Clay (Thwaites) escape their duty and find themselves on a journey that Ava hopes will bring a glimmer of closure to her marriage.

One of the enduring aspects of the horror genre is its ability to adapt and provide fresh takes on stories that have begun to become stale. Zombie horror, which became popular again after 28 Days Later in 2002, was coming very close to wearing out its welcome. However, We Bury the Dead is able to come up with an interesting premise to show maybe the zombie flick isn’t quite dead yet.

Director Zak Hilditch, director of 2013’s apocalyptic sci fi thriller These Final Hours, returns to the cinemas with another unique genre take. In fact, one of my favorite aspects of the film is how it treats the zombies themselves. The movie never actually refers to them as “zombies”, instead they are the dead who have “become active” again. Some move slowly and seem confused while others seem ready to act like the undead we’ve come to expect in films like this. You’d think the government would want to keep some of them around so they could study and understand them. However the Austrailian military doesn’t want to take any risk and instead just puts them down as soon as they are discovered.

The “zombie” aspect of the story is very much downplayed, with the movie being more of a character study about Ridley’s Ava and her marriage. In fact, horror diehards might be disappointed there is little actual horror or jump scares. While I did enjoy the more grounded zombie aspect, I wish the movie had done more exploration in terms of understanding the catastrophe and the reactivated humans.

The movie also looks great, with Hilditch and cinematographer Steve Annis really setting the scene showing the environment littered with bodies, deserted roads, and seascapes with downed planes. The loneliness and sadness of a post catastrophic Tasmania really helps set the ultimately grim tone of the story.

With such a fresh premise and an intense and thought provoking first half, it’s disappointing that the second half of the film veers into much more conventional territory. Without going into too much detail, Ava comes across a soldier played by Mark Coles Smith who shifts the story in a very expected direction that undercuts a lot of the good will the film had built up to that point.

Daisy Ridley, who has really gotten a bad rap for no reason since finishing her role as Rey in Star Wars, is fantastic as Ava. Her desperation and need to find her husband comes through in every scene. She has great chemistry with Thwaites who unfortunately is off screen much longer than necessary. Her ultimate reason for finding her husband is very much telegraphed in some flashbacks but that doesn’t stop you from rooting for her. The movie also ends on an uplifting note that could have come off much cheesier than it did.

This wasn’t a bad way to kick off 2026 cinematically, with a unique and thought-provoking story brought to life by Ridley. While I wish the movie had focused on Ridley and Thwaites more, it’s still a fresh take on a horror genre that was very much becoming stale. In a sea of sequels and remakes, I’m glad a studio was willing to take the plunge and release something original like this.

Grade: C+