★★★ out of ★★★★★
Intensity 🩸🩸1/2 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Directed and written by Zak Hilditch
Writer/director Zak Hilditch focuses on personal grief and loss in this dramatically gripping take on a zombie outbreak.
Official synopsis
After a catastrophic military disaster, the dead don’t just rise — they hunt. The military insists they are harmless and slow-moving, offering hope to grieving families. But when Ava (Daisy Ridley) enters a quarantine zone searching for her missing husband, she uncovers the horrifying truth: the undead are growing more violent, more relentless, and more dangerous with every passing hour.
Review
Admittedly I have been burned out on the zombie subgenre of horror films for quite some time, but when a new feature as interesting as writer/director Zak Hilditch’s We Bury the Dead (Australia/U.S., 2024) comes along, I’m happy to watch and review. The film may not present a lot of new ideas, but it delivers drama, dread, and tension quite well.
Daisy Ridley gives a fine, nuanced performance as Ava, who travels from the United States to Tasmania to join a body retrieval unit after a disastrous event that resulted in some of the dead victims coming back to life. Her real goal is to find her husband Mitch (Matt Whelan), who was on a business trip there at the time.
The revenants here are initially thought to be docile and who appear to be only slow moving, but Ava and fellow volunteer Clay (Brenton Thwaites) — the two go on a rule-breaking quest on a stolen motorcycle to find Mitch — soon discover that the returned have a much more violent side to them.
The cast is solid throughout, with Mark Coles Smith — who was also terrific in this year’s Australian shark attack/war thriller Beast of War — providing fine support as disturbed soldier Riley, who is hiding no less than two huge secrets.
Hilditch focuses on the relationships between Ava and Mitch, Clay, and Riley, with the married couple’s issues initially being shown in flashbacks. The director also knows that zombie movie fans expect some violence, and he delivers that without making it the main draw. The makeup and gore effects are admirable, and are part of the film’s wholly impressive production values.
Grief, the search for understanding, and the hope for closure drive We Bury the Dead. Zombie fare enthusiasts should consider it required viewing, and viewers like me who have become less enthusiastic about the subgenre should also find it an intriguing watch.
We Bury the Dead, from Vertical, opened nationwide in theaters on January 2, 2026.
Review by Joseph Perry
