WE BURY THE DEAD (2025)

Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Zak Hilditch
Cast: Daisy Ridley, Brenton Thwaites, Mark Coles Smith, Matt Whelan
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Violence And Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 26 February 2026

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 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.

Movie Review:

While We Bury the Dead is touted as a zombie horror thriller, it’s more of a character-driven, apocalyptic drama that deals with grief and humanity.

Daisy Ridley stars as Ava, an American physiotherapist who volunteers for a “clean-up” mission after a catastrophic explosion devastates Tasmania, Australia. Her main motive is to look for her husband, Mitch, who had gone there on a business trip. As a result of the EMP, most if not all of the residents have been turned into the undead though slow-moving and harmless as warned by the military.

Ava teams up with a fellow volunteer, Clay (Brenton Thwaites), to retrieve and dispose of bodies around town. At some point, both agree to abandon the group and ride across the island to search for Mitch.

Writer-director Zak Hilditch doesn’t dive deep into the zombie genre the way pioneers like George A. Romero did for zombie cinema, or what Edgar Wright and Danny Boyle pulled off with Shaun of the Dead and 28 Days Later. In the end, Hilditch is more concerned with the living than the dead. As the movie progresses, we learn there’s more to Ava and Mitch’s relationship. Ava isn’t simply searching for her beloved husband’s whereabouts, but for closure as well. She’s haunted by his abrupt departure, by words left unsaid and matters unresolved. It’s perhaps more dramatic than what you’d expect from a zombie thriller.

At one point, Ava and Clay stumble upon a sex dungeon, though again, it’s not the kind of adrenaline-fueled stakes you might anticipate. Later, the duo meet a soldier named Riley (Mark Coles Smith), who promises to bring her to Mitch. You know there’s something off about this guy when Ava finds out his wife, pregnant with their unborn child has turned into the undead. It’s moments like these that set the film apart from typical zombie tropes that usually descend into total chaos and bloodbath.

Still, We Bury the Dead has a few select scenes of dread and genuine scares. One of the more unsettling traits of the undead is the loud grinding, chittering of their teeth, which comes across as deeply unnerving and uncomfortable. We’re told prior the zombies are slow-moving, but there are a few surprises here and there.

For a modestly budgeted Aussie horror, We Bury the Dead is well-shot and atmospheric, making good use of the vast emptiness of its locations in Hobart and Perth. Daisy Ridley shines in her post-Star Wars career as a character navigating a monstrous journey among both the living and the dead. This is definitely arthouse horror not one to mistake for bloody popcorn entertainment.  

Movie Rating:

(More of a haunting, thoughtful road trip than a carnage-filled zombie movie)

Review by Linus Tee