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Australia have some solid horror movies and the other day I realized I havent check out "We Bury The Dead (2026)" well technically its a 2024 movie but lets not get into the theatrical and festival release toopic because the buzz around Daisy Ridley doing a horror movie in Tasmania sounded too cool to pass up, and let me tell you right now that this movie is a total trip that does not go where you think it will at all, not groundbraking, not that its reiventing the Zombie genre but its a good watch. The whole vibe is less about the usual monster theme and more of a slow burn look at what happens when a massive disaster just breaks a person inside, you got Ridley playing this American woman named Ava who is basically losing her mind trying to find her husband after some crazy event that leaves the island full of these reanimated people who are not really alive but not fully dead either. It is a dope setup because she actually joins a body cleanup crew just so she can search through the piles of corpses for her man, which shows you exactly how much she is drowning in loss and how far she is willing to go to get some kind of answer even if it kills her, and the hardest part is to understand why she is making such risky choices throughout the entire story. The entire setup has this heavy feeling of sadness that reminded me a lot of the of 28 Years Later where the world is just quiet and broken and humans have basically learn how to survive along infected ones and since the movie is filmed in Australia the landscape is just beautiful but also super depressing because everything feels so empty and grey. I was not expecting this after all the drama and low rating this movie has online.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29713093/
- Platform: PRIME VIDEO
The way this movie handles the creatures is very different to other similar movies, the most I can remind me of is a recent Spanish movie called "Apocalypse Z" who also show a different aspect of life in a world full of zombies. On We Bury The Dead they are not traditional at all and they do not even try to eat people which makes the whole thing feel so much more intense and sad whenever they show up on screen, you got these bodies just kind of existing in this weird middle state and the background music and sounds are legit haunting because it uses a lot of human vocals that make you unconfortable at times. Daisy Ridley is carrying the entire thing on her shoulders and she does a solid job bringing out that raw pain, especially in the scenes where she is just staring at the bodies she has to bag and tag while hoping one of them is not her husband. The movie does get kinda draggy while she is basically playing the waiting game but the cast still made it watchable when they were interacting in those quiet moments between the cleanup shifts, and you can see how the tragedy is just eating away at everyone on the crew as they try to keep their heads down and do this disgusting job for the government. I already mention the movies is very pretty in terms of landscape and visual, is so good at making Tasmania look like this alien world full of life but with all this "neuro zombies" its hard to believe if people will really die anymore, well to give some context this zombies are not your classic virus generated type but they do turn agressive after some time. I loved how the horror was mix with this deep human sadness that actually makes you care about what happens to Ava instead of just wanting for things to get wild, you really enjoy the drama on this movie if you are into it. In my opinion a great step outside of your classic horror release because it actually tries to add deeper moments even if the pacing feels all over the place during the middle part when they are just driving around the countryside.
I did have a few minor complains with how the story developed because there is this weird scene where she is partying that felt a bit off compared to the rest of the dark tone and everything about it felt rushed when they tried to explain exactly what caused the outbreak. You could see where things were heading from miles away during some of the forest sequences, and there were a few jump scares that felt unnecessary for a movie that is trying to be this deep and emotional look at grief. It is almost like the producers got scared that the audience would get bored with just the drama, so they threw in these cheap loud noises to wake people up, but it just took me out of the experience and made it feel a bit generic for a second. The whole subculture of the cleanup crew was interesting but they did not spend enough time showing how these people actually survive day to day in a world that has completely collapsed around them, which is a shame because those little details are what usually make these kinds of movies feel real and get you deep into their world. For probably the first time I wanted them to just commit to the slow burn instead of trying to be a thriller every twenty minutes but I guess that is just how the industry works when they want high rating, tickets, online views. Despite those slip ups the movie still manages to be a great watch because the main concept is so fresh and the emotional weight is heavy enough to make you overlook the small stuff that does not quite land.
The whole baby story at the end is going to break you even if you are not into the drama and Im sure you are going to keep thinking about it once its done. At the end everything tries to come together but the final twist with what is actually happening to the bodies is so messed up and dark that it makes you thing about everything you just watched and it clicks right away how this quest for revenge or closure, depending how you see it, can just destroy a person until there is nothing left. It is a story that actually hooks you because it does not give you any easy answers or a happy ending where everyone gets saved and goes back to normal, I really hope there is a chance they do a sequel and even with the low ratings or turn it into a tv series because this approach to zombies is different, aside that the movie leaves you remembering all the lost and trauma. The production quality is for sure there and you can tell they used the Australian landscape to its full potential to create this sense of isolation that feels like you are trapped on the island right along with Ava. I think some people might find the jumping between genres a bit out of place but I liked how it showed that life keeps moving in these weird ways even when the world is ending, and the way they used the reanimated people to mirror her own internal struggle was a smart move that paid off a lot by the end of the movie.
When thinking back on this movie I feel disappointed that the ending felt a bit rushed because there was so much potential to really let that final revelation get some legs because its the one trick of the movie, even though it has been some time since the movie release I dont want to say what was it because its the one trick of the movie that will shock you. I am giving this a 7/10 because even though it is a solid story that makes you feel something it still feels like it is missing that one extra piece to make it a total classic that I would want to watch over and over again, I can for sure watch it a couple of times here and there. It is definitely worth a watch if you want to see Daisy Ridley do something different and you are in the mood for a depressing drama that happens to have some dead people walking around in it. The original idea for how the sickness works is legit and I hope more directors take risks like this instead of just making the same old flesh eating zombie movies we have seen a million times before. It is not perfect and it has its some plot hoes and problems with the script and the way it handles the side characters, but the core of the movie is strong enough to keep you watching for the full runtime even when it drags. Just make sure you are in the right mind set and not feeling any rush for anything before you hit play because this one is a total mess in the good way that will leave you feeling sad and about the clean up crew and what really goes down.
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