We Bury the Dead

by Mike McGranaghan

In We Bury the Dead, a military accident has caused half a million people in Australia to die. Bizarrely, they inexplicably reanimated shortly after death. That might sound like the basis for a routine zombie flick, but this one has a fresh twist on the undead: they aren’t initially dangerous here.

Daisy Ridley stars as Ava, a woman whose husband was in Tasmania when the event occurred. Wanting to know if he’s dead or alive – or something in between – she volunteers to be part of a unit assigned to enter specified zones for identification and retrieval of bodies. (Retrieval also means putting them down.) This is just a ruse, though. Ava convinces fellow team member Clay (Brenton Thwaites) to travel with her into the unsanctioned zone where her husband likely is – a direct violation of protocol that will mean big trouble if they’re caught.

Back to those undead. Ava discovers that violence isn’t their natural inclination. They have to be provoked into it. Taking this approach allows We Bury the Dead to focus on the tragedy of so many lost lives. Instead of generic villains, the zombies are portrayed as human beings who met a fate they didn’t deserve. Writer/director Zak Hilditch is interested in exploring the idea of loss. Although Ava’s loss is certainly front and center, the movie works to make you feel the impact of a mass casualty. It does a far better job of humanizing zombies than 2024’s similarly themed Handling the Undead did, and without the unnecessarily gruesome bunny murder, too.

Adding a layer to the drama is the unfolding of Ava’s personal arc. She has a very specific reason for needing to find her husband, one that goes beyond the obvious. When that clicks into place during the final twenty minutes, it brings an emotional punch to the film. Daisy Ridley once again proves herself to be exceptionally skilled at minimalist acting, conveying great depth of feeling with a mere glance or simple movement. She’s the beating heart at the center of the horror.

Yes, there is traditional horror amid the more conceptual kind. In a wildly effective piece of sound effects magic, the undead make a noise that sounds like loud teeth-grinding. It’s eerie and unnerving, creating a nails-on-a-chalkboard reaction whenever they come onscreen. A lot of movies have their zombies or monsters spew weird clicking noises. The teeth-grinding sound is very human, which proves powerful.

We Bury the Dead is definitely more somber than the average zombie picture. You may not get the intense visceral thrills of 28 Years Later, but you do get something that lingers in your mind for a while. Call it horror with a soul.

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