Ah, the “fringe horror” conundrum rears its head again. Zak Hilditch’s We Bury the Dead is the latest in a line of zombie movies that want their zeds pushed to the background. It’s the “Stage 1” approach to undead scenarios that ignites a doomsday we’re never meant to witness. How do humans contemplate the first reanimated corpses, navigate their emotional bandwidths, and defend against the evils of humanity that unfurl when Hell swallows Earth? All these questions and more are answered in Hilditch’s shambling zombie-lite drama, but like many other films with the same approach, horror elements take a back seat and the overall experience suffers.
What Is ‘We Bury the Dead’ About?

Image via SXSW

Daisy Ridley stars as Ava Newman, a distraught wife on a mission to find her husband Mitch (Matt Whelan). Where, you ask? In Tasmania, where the United States accidentally killed 500,000 civilians due to a catastrophic military blunder. The only way is for Ava to join a “body retrieval unit,” but assignments won’t allow volunteers to pass south enough into fire-ridden zones. Even worse, there are reports of the dead popping back to life as an added threat. Ava’s only hope in locating her husband (in any condition) is a rugged samaritan named Clay (Brenton Thwaites), a “borrowed” cherry-red Ducati and about 200 miles of possibly zombie-infested highway.
What plays out is akin to an episode of The Walking Dead that hones in on survivors and their dilemmas, where a zombie might pop in for a spell, but is handled quickly. Hilditch recalibrates traditional George A. Romero tropes to define zombies that aren’t initially brain-hungry—they stand in place, “docile.” There’s no onset explanation for passing the contagion, nor do bites seem to matter since they’re never shown. Not every corpse rises, so it’s a random occurrence, and they can be defeated with anything from bullets to a few bashes from a fire extinguisher. There’s an attempt to try something new, but Hilditch has trouble defining what “new” is outside sickening sound design as yellow teeth grind this horrible (compliment) Clicker-ish noise, making the zombies more of a distraction than a danger.
‘We Bury the Dead’ Has Great Ideas, but Poor Execution

Image via Umbrella Entertainment

We Bury The Dead is Ava’s journey for closure, which becomes an overall exploration of how closure hurts, but ultimately heals. Clay’s struggling with his emotional turmoil, which is pushed and hidden beneath his shredded physique and dark, end-of-days humor. Mark Coles Smith plays a soldier named Riley who crosses Ava’s path, and his refusal to accept closure brings with it obscure circumstances (think a Dead Rising mini-boss). These are people trapped by grief and motivated by self-serving bandaids who refuse truths, being devoured by their own insecurities. Why is Ava risking possible death to see the bloated, rotten corpse of her husband—what does that bring? Answers, but the road there lacks stakes and rambles with a sullenness that never evaporates.
That’s the problem. Hilditch is enamored with the emotions that ensnare survivors in zombie thrillers, but he doesn’t seem fully engaged in the zombies themselves. Ridley has one mode as Ava softly sheds tears while cycling, driving, and trudging towards the posh coastal resort where Mitch is either deceased or worse. The effort is noble, but we spend far too long on Ava’s journey without fiery interjections to bring the film’s hum of a tone to a louder decibel. We Bury The Dead is propelled by its morose sense of stagnation in characters and creates this weightless purgatorial advancement until the inevitable climax. There are fantastic ideas—loonies who study zombies chained in their barns, heightened aggression in later scenes—but never enough exploration beyond how that affects the humans on screen beyond narrow objectives.

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There’s no shortage of technique displayed as Ava traverses Tasmania’s arid landscapes. Cinematographer Steve Annis pours over leftover wreckage and barren farmlands destroyed by America’s idiocy, and captures dead bodies posed Collapsed Dog in yoga classes or while gardening like they’re apocalyptic museum exhibits. British electronic musician Clark compliments tracks by Canadian rock band Metric to score Ava’s exploits with moody sound bites that meet each moment. Hilditch is no stranger to tight composition, and Ridley—curiously playing an American abroad in Australia—is at her best when Ava’s soulful facial expressions do all the talking. Choice moments shine as Thwaites’ unavailable manchild connects with Ava or on a rare occasion where corpser tension spikes, but overall, the film wanders a bit aimlessly through thickets of anguish and grandeur.
We Bury The Dead is a sprawling but sparse zombie remix that’s too far removed from the genre it’s exploiting. Australian titles like Cargo and Little Monsters prove you can stitch together undead excitement and heartfelt storytelling without concessions. Ridley’s a capable actor given an intriguing character who gets lost in a quieter approach that inches toward the finish line. Not to mention, Hilditch’s third act holds a reveal that recontextualizes too much on a whim and is an oddly unsatisfying “surprise” despite dripping with drama. Unfortunately, Hilditch’s biggest swing comes too late—and we’re already on autopilot.

We Bury the Dead

We Bury The Dead is an emotional powderkeg that never explodes, taking the scenic route in zombie cinema terms.

Release Date

March 8, 2025

Runtime

92 Minutes

Director

Zak Hilditch

Writers

Zak Hilditch

Pros & Cons

Daisy Ridley is a star as usual, keying into her character?s misery.
Brenton Thwaites is a nice complement as a supporting player.
There?s a sketch of an idea that is an intriguing zombie riff.

It?s a low simmer that never finds its boil.
The zombie elements fall to the wayside.
There?s a lacking sense of exploration that?s missing storytelling weight.