Time: 95 Minutes
Age Rating: R16 – Violence, horror, drug use & offensive language
Cast:
Daisy Ridley as Ava Newman
Brenton Thwaites as Clay
Mark Coles Smith as Riley
Director: Zak Hilditch

The only thing I knew about We Bury the Dead going in was that it was a zombie movie starring Daisy Ridley. It actually turned out to be pretty good.

We Bury the Dead has one of the more unique takes on a zombie movie, even if some of its aspects have been done before. The initial setup is about people having to bury the deceased following a disaster, some of them existing as zombies who aren’t exactly a threat but have to be dealt with nonetheless. This setting paired with Daisy Ridley looking for her missing husband makes for an emotional journey about grief, lack of closure and things left unsaid. It doesn’t fully explore its established themes, but the first act was unique enough that it held my attention all the way through. The second act is where the movie is at its slowest, even if this movie was already a slow burn, and it dragged a little. It picks up in the third act and there are some good scenes. However, the payoff wasn’t as strong as I hoped for, and it felt a little rushed. It also includes some traditional zombie encounters to spice things up and those scenes are effective, but they definitely felt like they were included just to make things exciting. 

Daisy Ridley is great in the lead role and delivers an emotional performance which carries much of the film. She’s supported well by Brenton Thwaites and Mark Coles Smith.

Zak Hilditch’s direction is top notch, especially with some striking cinematography. While it’s a different kind of zombie movie, it still delivers on the zombie stuff, with some great makeup, tense moments, and especially gnarly and unnerving sound design. The score from Clark is also effectively eerie and unsettling.

We Bury the Dead is a slow and sombre, but effective and unique take on the zombie movie, with a great performance from Daisy Ridley.