Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription used to watch this film.

We Bury the Dead Review Introduction

Today’s offering has been bubbling around in the Australian cinematic landscape for quite a bit before it got its theatrical release earlier this year. Unfortunately, while there were no well-timed screenings near me at the time, it has now made its way onto streaming, and this is the perfect time for me to give it a watch.  

So, to set the scene, one day an accidental detonation of an experimental weapon off the coast of Tasmania destroyed the capital city of Hobart. However, an EMP wave stretched further, destroying the brains of all living creatures on the island. It is a catastrophe of epic proportions, and a whole mobilisation effort has been activated to help identify and recover the bodies of the 500,000-odd dead. However, now and again, some of the dead wake up, and they are no longer themselves. Ava Newman (Daisy Ridley) is one of the volunteers, hoping to find out what happened to her husband, who was at a conference on the south of the island. Those who do reanimate are completely docile and not a problem, or so the Army says.

The Sad Humanity of it All

I think what the first part of the film nails is the sad reality of the dehumanising work of giving people a humanising end. It is a truly awful task that has been set to them, pulling one body out at a time so that they can be catalogued and then dumped in mass graves. The need to bring closure forces some to give up their humanity so that others can have comfort. The way you need to desensitise yourself to the horrors you must deal with every day. Everyone has different reasons as to why they are there, but the march of desensitisation progresses on.  

Humanity Drives All

One thing that does persist throughout the film is the human drive for closure. Ava’s drive to find out what happened to her husband Mitch (Matt Whelan) persists, even when she intellectually knows what happened. Knowing that they left on bad terms only heightens the drive to get answers. You have Clay (Brenton Thwaites) volunteering just so he can look better to his family, or Riley (Mark Coles Smith) having a very clear mental breakdown over not being able to process his wife’s death. Indeed, much of the tension in the film comes more from the broken human characters than the potential threat the undead pose.    

Is this a Zombie Film? Or a Film with Zombies?  

I think one of the questions that We Bury the Dead asks, well, other than why did Daisy Ridley need to be American when an Australian or even her native English accent would have worked better, is whether it is a zombie film, or just a film with zombies. I think if you watched the trailer, which has the only real chase sequence in the film, then you would have probably been disappointed with the final product. I quite liked this take on the undead as a way of being this sinking menace in the background, a slowly evolving disaster waiting to strike, but more of a setting for human stories around them. I will say the sound design of the zombies always crunching their teeth might have been the worst part, given I watched this film with headphones.   

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend We Bury the Dead? Yes, I would, if you are a fan of someone doing something different in the Zombie space. While not all of the film worked for me, the drive for closure made for an interesting hook that intrigued me from start to finish.  

Have you watched We Bury the Dead? Let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked We Bury the Dead, we would recommend 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple to you because I feel it is working in the same thematic space.  

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Feel free to share this review on social media and check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of We Bury the Dead
Directed by – Zak Hilditch
Written by – Zak Hilditch
Music by – Clark
Cinematography by – Steve Annis
Edited by – Merlin Eden
Production/Distribution Companies – Screen Australia, Gramercy Park Media, Screenwest, The Penguin Empire, Adelaide Film Festival, Giant Leap Media, Peachtree Media Partners, Vertical Films, & Umbrella Entertainment.
Starring – Daisy Ridley, Brenton Thwaites, Mark Coles Smith, & Matt Whelan
With – Kym Jackson, Dan Paris, Nicola Bartlett, Kim Fleming, Deanna Cooney, Kingsley Judd, Elijah Williams, & Holly Hargreaves
Rating – Australia: MA15+; Canada: 14A; Germany: 16; New Zealand: R; United Kingdom: 15; United States: R