January is no longer the cinematic wasteland it was 20 years ago. For example, in January 2026, a long-awaited release will be released in the middle of the month. 28 years later continuationand will appear later this month Sam Raimi's new thriller starring Rachel McAdams. But when the first Friday of January falls particularly early in the month, as it did this year, the weekend remains relatively barren. So it's only fitting that one of the few new films to be released on January 2nd We bury the deada horror drama that is somewhat reminiscent of an acoustic cover of 28 days laterZombie sociological thriller.
Actually, We bury the dead may represent the least panicky depiction of a zombie outbreak this side The dead don't diealbeit in a sad context. As a result of a failed US military experiment, an EMP bomb exploded off the coast of Tasmania, instantly killing all the inhabitants of the island. Among the 500,000 dead is Mitch (Matt Whelan), who came here for work. The film follows his wife Ava (Daisy Ridley) as she volunteers on a stunning and rather gruesome mission: to help clean up half a million corpses. Like many volunteers, Ava has an ulterior motive: she hopes against hope that she can actually find Mitch in a more animated state.
The presence of zombies is not a revelation for any of the characters. Rumors that some of the dead are coming back to life are quietly confirmed at Ava's briefing when volunteers are advised not to panic if they encounter a reanimated body. The military will care for him “humanely” and there have been no reports of any real danger. The zombie problem is discussed beforehand, in part to discourage volunteers from searching for their loved ones. Ava doesn't heed any of these warnings. She and her assigned work partner, the more cavalier Riley (Mark Coles Smith), must bypass the army and head further south.
Along the way, they encounter zombies in scenes that writer-director Zac Hilditch builds for mystery rather than pure suspense. Hilditch doesn't eliminate the horror entirely: there are chilling moments when the undead appear silently in the background or away from the frame, and frequent overhead shots surveying the eerily desolate landscape are elegant in their unease. The film also features a memorable, crude, repetitive sound effect: the zombies, seemingly unaware of the strength of their jaws and their bodily weakness, grind their teeth until they crunch in their mouths like pieces of cereal.
We bury the dead doesn't deal with the spontaneity that many viewers associate with. 28 days later and other modern zombie films, where the undead tend to appear as rampaging hordes (whether they move traditionally slowly or speed up to a terrifying sprint). IN We bury the deadthe live-action characters seem to understand the outbreak better than its victims, who typically haven't yet gathered in fearsome crowds or exhibit the animal instincts of their counterparts in other films.
However, this doesn't put Ava on solid ground. She said that the undead are essentially an accident that needs to be fixed, and the zombies she meets during her travels don't exactly encourage a potential reunion with Mitch. At best, their consciousness appears hazy; at worst, violent outbursts begin to appear, as any student of horror would expect. However, Ava moves forward, unable to fully accept the tragedy without facing it, especially after hearing that the reanimated corpses are most likely victims with “unfinished business.” This description is more often applied to ghosts than to zombies, and We bury the dead has an appropriately haunted quality.
Through Ava, Hilditch seems to wonder what motivates the existence of so many zombie films in the first place. He seems to be interested in the genre, but as with the creators of the recent film 28 years laterhe believes a zombie movie can accommodate a surprising amount of quiet reflection. We bury the dead it's not as boldly stylized as any of Danny Boyle's forays into zombie land, but it does benefit from location shooting, the steady clarity of Hilditch's compositions and Ridley's gripping but determined performance. Ridley has become the face of sustainability in her Star Wars films, as well as more disparate films such as Young woman and the sea And Daughter of the Marsh King. Here, that determination develops into something more stubborn, while she allows hints of greater vulnerability.
What this leads to leaves Ava a little upset. In my own way We bury the dead leaves as mysteriously and suddenly as 28 years laterwith no promise of an immediate follow-up to further develop his stranger and more compelling ideas. (It also ends with a concept strikingly similar to that from a little earlier in Boyle's film.) At the same time, there is something appealing about the film's extreme modesty and its refusal to push further into the fictional world's new zombie age. Hilditch doesn't represent the apocalypse on a large canvas. Like Ava, he explores the pieces of a potential disaster and ponders what it could mean for humanity as a whole, and seeks a new perspective for the new year.
