We Bury the Dead, starring Daisy Ridley, is a zombie horror film released on January 2nd, 2026 in the US. The premise of the movie is that Daisy Ridley’s character, Ava Newman, volunteers to be part of Tasmania’s Body Retrieval Unit after a military disaster had struck. Ava’s main goal is to search for her husband who had gone to Tasmania for a business retreat as a means of closure. She is accompanied by another volunteer, Clay, who joined Tasmania’s Body Retrieval Unit to prove his selflessness to his deceased wife and daughter.
The dead in this movie were able to reanimate, or become zombies, due to the aforementioned military disaster which was a result of an EMP blast. However, this is not your typical zombie movie— these “zombies” are driven by “unfinished business” rather than their hunger for flesh. The zombies were only minor setbacks for our protagonist, as the real dilemma arose from her own grief.
My review of the movie is very mixed. Overall, I was not too impressed as I believed there were many plot holes and the movie was not as scary as advertised. But, I do believe that this movie offered an interesting perspective on the zombie genre and had meaningful themes of grief and loss.
NOTE: SPOILERS
The trailers of the movie made the movie feel apocalyptic and full of chaos. Upon watching the movie, I was ready to feel scared and full of adrenaline. However, the movie was not as action packed as advertised, which I felt disappointed about. There were only a couple of jumpscares but they weren’t as fear inducing as I had hoped they would be. The trailers made it seem like the main problem was the zombies getting in Ava’s way, but they weren’t actually the primary focus of the movie.
Trailers aside, the movie itself was poorly paced, the plot was generic with many plot holes, and the ending was not satisfying. The entire movie was spent on Ava getting to the resort where her husband was staying at with very little zombie action. The movie then sprang everything onto the viewer within the last 20-30 minutes of the movie. Within those 20-30 minutes, it revealed that Ava’s husband had been cheating on her right before he died. Not only did he cheat, but he cheated because Ava had an affair first. Ava then proceeds to drag his body to a boat and let him rest in peace in the river that was conveniently next to the resort. This part of the ending was confusing as it made it seem like she only looked for him to see if he was cheating on her when that was not her intention.
A character that I have neglected to mention is Riley, a soldier who was accompanying Ava earlier in the movie. Riley has a dead wife who is pregnant and whose corpse remains at his house. At the very end of the movie, his wife reanimates and gives birth in an abandoned house. She then proceeds to walk away from her own baby when Ava spots her. Ava, who is also with Clay, finds the baby and holds the baby in her hands. This ending was overall messy and rushed. Yes, the movie had been hinting that Ava was infertile and had marriage problems through various flashbacks but how they built up this idea felt weak and rushed, making the ending not as impactful as intended. The ending felt as if Ava completely skipped the process of grief and coping with loss by being immediately ready to start anew with a new man and a baby.
Although I was critical about certain aspects, there was still good that came from the movie. The movie did a great job humanizing the zombies. One of the scenes depicted Ava Newman finding a dead family in front of an RV. The father reanimates and becomes a “zombie” but instead of attacking Ava, he instead buries his family’s bodies. As the movie has mentioned before, the dead come back if they have unfinished business. It was very heartwarming to see the father properly bury his family so he could rest peacefully. The zombies played a role as a symbol of lingering grief and loss and not a major obstacle for the protagonist. The major obstacle was ultimately Ava’s grief and her need for closure which was well portrayed through her interactions with the other characters within the movie. Another scene that the movie did well with was portraying that humans can be monsters. The soldier I’ve mentioned before, Riley, accompanies Ava to his house for dinner. Riley and Ava both have spouses who died due to the military disaster. However, Ava is not comfortable with Riley as he attempts to make her pretend to be his wife and wear their wedding ring. When trying to escape, Riley gets violent and Ava retreats to the shed behind his house. In his shed, there were “zombies” chained up and being documented. Though the movie does not share any more about what Riley was doing to those people, it’s clear that his motives were not humane.
If you enjoy horror movies and the adrenaline of being scared, this movie is not recommended. This movie is for those who enjoy character-driven plot and being able to interpret the ending on your own. If this applies to you, then watching this movie is definitely worth considering.