WE BURY THE DEAD

We Bury the Dead delivers a zombie drama that revels in the trauma of survivors and the grief they experience rather than the brain eating carnage that often dominates this horror subgenre, but with this insightful writing of Zak Hilditch and a strong lead performance from Daisy Ridley, makes for an effective character piece that still has serves up some unforgettable zombie terror.

Zombie films work best when they subvert the standard tropes of the genre. Yes, there are undeniable thrills watching humans escape hungry zombies craving brains and the gory carnage that ensues when they find a victim to be a source of food, but after decades of these stories being told in cinema, doing a straight zombie film is not as exciting as it used to be. Australian writer and director Zak Hilditch understands this and instead chooses to focus on the human experience after losing loved ones during the outbreak of a zombie infection in his latest film, We Bury the Dead, in addition to still delivering the unsettling zombie moments that audiences have come to expect from the genre. Starring Daisy Ridley in the lead role, who continues to choose different roles from her major blockbuster roles that kickstarted her career and once again proves her merits as an actress, this bleak exploration of love, grief and closure set against a zombie outbreak makes for a solid zombie flick featuring great technical aspects to start off the 2026 movie season with.

Death is something that is expected in zombie films, but the way that Hilditch explores it in We Bury the Dead makes the story more meaningful from a character perspective. As Ava buries the bodies of the dead in the Body Retrieval Unit she is volunteering with to find her husband is presumed dead, she is burying her own internal demons at the same time. Exploring her troubled relationship with her husband through flashbacks, though not revealing the source of their problems until the final act to shroud what Ava is actually coping with in a mysterious fog, her journey through a zombie-ridden wasteland builds the emotional tension as the danger escalates as Ava gets closer to her husband's last known whereabouts. While being attacked over the course of her journey by zombies and human survivors who are not able to bury their own past and find the closure that Ava is herself searching for, We Bury the Dead creates a far more human journey that plays against the stereotypical zombie film story, while still delivering some nail biting moments with zombies and human survivors, notably in the film’s middle act. The ending itself swings big, and while it has a glimmer of hope to end this otherwise bleak film on, with 28 Years Later which having deployed the same narrative idea but better only a few months ago, We Bury the Dead’s ending does not generate as powerful as a final moment as Hilditch initially hoped for.

Allowing the film to be the more emotionally stirring experience it is is Ridley’s lead performance as Ava. Delivering a more reserved performance as Ava travels through Tasmania searching for her husband, Ridley uses her facial expressions over words to create Ava’s emotional journey as she grapples with the state of her character’s marriage and letting go of the grief that she is searching for closure for. It’s nuanced work from Ridley that shows a great emotional vulnerability, helping to bond the character’s with Ava’s emotional journey over the course of the film, and she excels from start to finish and continues to show her worth as a dramatic actress capable of far more than blockbuster studio fare that audiences know her best for. The supporting cast is rather limited, but Brenton Thwaites is a great partner for Ridley as Clay, another individual searching for closure in Tasmania, and Matt Whelan creates that marital friction with Ava as Mitch with ease. Though it is Mark Coles Smith who has the most unforgettable moments of the film as Riley, delivering a chilling performance of how the lack of closure and working through one’s grief can make an individual more monstrous than the zombies themselves.

As with all zombie films, their success hinges on the appearance and design of the zombies that create the gravity of the danger they have on our human protagonists, and the zombies in this film are downright chilling. Brought to life with excellent makeup and prosthetics work, the undead have a blood soaked and grotesque appearance that creates fear within both the characters and the audience. The sound design, from the grinding of their broken teeth in unnatural movements and the sound of them approaching, is certain to build the uneasy atmosphere as the audience is constantly on pins and needles with every sound in the otherwise quiet film. This allows the internal reflection and struggle within Ava to permeate the screen, allowing the outburst of sounds with the zombies to create a startling experience when required. Combined with the striking cinematography that utilizes lots of wide and aerial shots, showing the extreme vastness of Tasmania and the lack of human life, creating the perfect post-apocalyptic feeling world for this story to unfold in. With the film only having four significant characters, the world building done by the cinematography, make-up work and sound design informs every aspect of the film, allowing this more internal emotional journey to hit every emotional beat as required.

Effective genre films require moments of unease and tension as much as they do a unique plot that uses the genre elements to speak on something far more human, and there is no shortage of this pairing in We Bury the Dead. Combining emotionally resonant character development with the horrors of the zombie genre, writer and director Zak Hilditch and Daisy Ridley ensure that there is not a moment of We Bury the Dead that does not create unnerving dread or emotional resonance in a commendable zombie film to start off the new year with.