We Bury the Dead
January 8th, 2026
MOVIE: WE BURY THE DEAD
STARRING: DAISY RIDLEY, BRENTON THWAITES, MARK COLES SMITH
DIRECTED BY: ZAK HILDITCH
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 3 STARS (Out of 4)
Subverting the zombie subgenre is increasingly difficult in 2026. After The Walking Dead and its countless spin-offs, the reality is that zombies have long since had their day in the sun. We Bury the Dead, however, finds a way to revive the undead by focusing not on the monsters, but on the living. Daisy Ridley stars as a wife searching for her husband, forced to sift through the dead while confronting the emotional toll that the end of the world places on those left behind. We Bury the Dead is an impressive study of loss and survival.
Written and directed by Zak Hilditch, the story begins with a massive catastrophe: a military disaster triggers an explosion off the coast of Tasmania, killing the island’s entire population. The Australian government initiates a recovery and cleanup effort, prompting Ava (Ridley) to volunteer. Her motivation is deeply personal- her husband Mitch (Matt Whelan) was on the island, and she clings to the hope that he might have survived. What Ava and the recovery team encounter is more than corpses reanimated; it is a painful emotional reckoning, the kind of catharsis that follows unimaginable loss.
The cleanup process is where Hilditch establishes the film’s tone. This is not initially a story about frantic chases or violent attacks- that comes later- but about the lives left behind. Each house Ava enters tells a silent story: families frozen at the dinner table, garages filled with the remnants of everyday existence, and the haunting stillness of a person’s final moments. The film’s true focus is Ava’s internal struggle as she processes it all- handling bodies that could include her husband, living with constant dread, and confronting the unsettling possibility that the dead may return as something else.
In the film’s second half, the narrative shifts as Ava and Clay (Brenton Thwaites) break away from the recovery team so she can search for Mitch’s last known location. Along the way, she encounters Riley (Mark Coles Smith), a solitary military survivor who embodies what Ava fears becoming. His isolation and emotional withdrawal are not unique in this world, but through his attempts to connect with her, Ava begins to understand what grief looks like when it goes unchecked- and what she hopes to avoid.
There are moments when the undead fully emerge as a threat, including a tense sequence in which Ava flees a zombie and hides inside a wrecked car. Still, We Bury the Dead remains far more interested in the living than the dead. While the pacing occasionally falters, the film distinguishes itself from standard zombie fare. Ridley delivers a strong performance, capturing grief, denial, and the crushing realization that while living among the dead is terrifying, it is impossible to escape the pain left behind by the living. We Bury the Dead ultimately underscores the bleak tragedy at the heart of the genre: these monsters were once people, and what lingers is the weight of who they used to be.
3 STARS
WE BURY THE DEAD IS NOW PLAYING IN SELECT THEATERS.
Written by: Leo Brady
