We Bury the Dead

We Bury the Dead is an intimate survival thriller and horror drama written and directed by Australian filmmaker Zak Hilditch. The narrative is set in the wake of an unprecedented catastrophe: an experimental American electromagnetic pulse weapon accidentally detonates off the coast of Tasmania, instantly rendering over 300,000 to 500,000 residents brain dead and severing all communications. Ava Newman, an American physiotherapist, travels across the globe to the quarantined island under the guise of joining a volunteer civilian Body Retrieval Unit (BRU) organized by the military.

While the retrieval units are tasked with methodically clearing corpses from rural homes and tagging them for burial, Ava's true motivation is deeply personal: she is searching for her husband Mitch, who was attending a corporate conference when disaster struck. Ava partners with Clay, a cynical fellow volunteer, and together they navigate the logistical nightmare of post-disaster Tasmania, monitored by harried military personnel such as Riley.

As the recovery teams push deeper into restricted zones, an eerie anomaly emerges: some victims begin regaining rudimentary motor functions, rising again in an altered, violent state. As the living and the reanimated clash amidst the ash and smoke of the island, Ava's search turns into a harrowing journey through grief, duty, and terror.

Conceived as a grief study disguised as a post-apocalyptic genre piece, the core message of We Bury the Dead explores the harrowing reality of unresolved loss and the human struggle with unfinished conversations. The film illustrates that lingering emotional baggage and the refusal to let go can trap people in a perpetual limbo far more agonizing than physical death. Ultimately, it argues that acceptance requires dismantling comfortable illusions and making peace with painful truths before one can step forward into the future.

The film can be analyzed through several distinct thematic lenses:

Released in early 2026, We Bury the Dead reflects modern cultural anxieties surrounding technological fallout, geopolitical accidents, and the compounding weight of collective grief. In a horror landscape often dominated by fast-paced creature features or gore-heavy franchises, Hilditch’s film was noted by critics for prioritizing mood, pacing, and human drama. The film also highlighted Daisy Ridley’s range outside major studio blockbusters like Star Wars, establishing her capacity to lead stripped-back, character-driven independent horror.

Critical reception was largely favorable, maintaining a strong Rotten Tomatoes score around 84–85%. Critics widely commended Daisy Ridley's grounded and emotionally charged performance, Steve Annis's evocative cinematography, Clark's score, and the film's deliberate subversion of standard zombie conventions.

However, general audiences expecting an action-packed zombie spectacle were divided by its slow pacing and dialogue-heavy grief study, contributing to a lower Popcornmeter score (~47%) and an early steep box-office drop. Genre enthusiasts celebrated it as an intelligent, atmospheric horror drama despite commercial challenges from misaligned audience expectations.