REVIEW: 'We Bury the Dead' is a Unique Take on the Zombie Genre That Loses Sight at the Finish Line

Christopher Mills
10 hours ago
4 min read

We Bury The Dead © Vertical — *We Bury The Dead* © Vertical

With most horror movies, we tend to follow the same trends and eventually we continue to get the same type of stories. With the zombie subgenre, it's quite difficult to come up with a unique take that allows for audiences to stay engaged with the story. We always get the usual outbreak that takes place, main characters trying to get from point A to B, and there being some special zombie that's unlike any of the ones we've encountered. We've been there, seen it and done it before. Zak Hilditch comes with We Bury the Dead in hopes of delivering a breath of fresh air, which he succeeds with before falling into the traps of the genre itself.

We Bury the Dead follows Ava (Daisy Ridley) as she travels to the island of Tasmania to search for her missing husband, who visited for work-related reasons. She goes along with the military, who go along with a group of grieving families in hopes of providing closure for them while collecting bodies. What Ava doesn't know is that the Undead are beginning to get more dangerous as the time passes by.

This isn't a horror movie that focuses on the apocalypse; in fact, it's not really a post-apocalyptic film, as the victims of the experimental weapon explosion gone wrong are isolated on the island of Tasmania, and the military are doing a good job of keeping it that way. It's a movie that focuses on the emotional and tragic aftermath of a disaster that leaves families and relationships torn apart. We Bury the Dead takes the best parts about the 28 Days Later franchise and implements them into its movie as we look deeper into Ava as Hilditch explores her motives and backstory, making the film feel like a character study of not just her but the world we live in.

Daisy Ridley as Ava holding an axe in 'We Bury the Dead.' — Daisy Ridley as Ava in *We Bury the Dead*. © Vertical

We're so held back by memories and struggle to let go of things that have taken place in life, and Hilditch creates the brilliant idea of connecting the undead to our ongoing issue of not letting things go. It's soon we find out in the movie that not all of the dead return back to life, and only a small amount of them do, and that it's likely the unfinished business they have which brings them back. It can be questioned if there's any truth to this, but there are many sequences throughout the movie that provide some proof to the idea, which overall ends up sending a beautiful message regarding life.

Where We Bury the Dead succeeds is that it doesn't ever try to become bigger than it is. We stay focused on the outbreak on this small island and stay very close to Ava as a character, learning about her relationship as we go along and also creating emotionally charged moments that involve the undead. Daisy Ridley delivers a phenomenal performance as Ava, a character who's weak but strong in mind, determined to do whatever it takes to find her husband, hopeless but slowly finds hope in the Undead she comes across as she makes connections with them. With most zombie films, we forget that they once used to be human, and with We Bury the Dead, that's never forgotten; even as undead, they're still human, and Ava treats them with the same respect, even when she's at her lowest and all seems lost.

Steve Annis' cinematography takes We Bury the Dead to a whole new level, connecting the audience more with Tasmania as we explore its long roads, abandoned buildings, toppled cars, eerie lifeless bodies and warm colours that just bring it all together. The supporting cast is just as strong as their lead, with Brenton Thwaites as Clay providing a great scene partner for Ridley, who is a great reminder that trust isn't as sacred in a world that's torn apart, delivering a performance that's full of substance and highlighting that Thwaites does indeed have the chops for acting. The biggest surprise is Mark Coles Smith, who plays Riley; while he introduces a storyline about a lonely soldier that we've seen told in movies such as this, Coles Smith's performance is disturbing and transforms the movie from a survival horror into a full-force psychological horror trip as twisted secrets are revealed.

This scene did prove to be one of the best in the film, but it's scenes like this and its ending that trip up Hilditch into falling into the zombie horror cliches. We Bury the Dead is an exploration of grief, and that's nothing new for a horror movie, but Zak Hilditch's efforts to take the zombie genre and focus it on a single lady that's complex, with Ridley complimenting it with a strong performance, makes it all the more worthwhile to watch and a good start to 2026 as Hilditch tries to play around with the mythology surrounding zombies that works better than most films.

To put it simply, if you love what the 28 Days Later franchise has to offer and can't wait until the release of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, later in the month (which will be worth the wait), please take the time to watch We Bury the Dead, which will leave you wanting to connect with your family.