Jay Rohr
We Bury the Dead aims to put the past to rest. It explores the lengths some people will go to have a happy ending. Yet, it rarely delivers the optimistic outcome main characters are after. Along the way a variety of horrors assail those looking for the bright side in an apocalyptic scenario. What makes the movie captivating is how expectations are constantly tossed upside down.
Daisy Ridley (The Last Jedi) plays Ava, a young woman who joins a cleanup detail gathering the dead. Events take place in the aftermath of a military experiment gone wrong, half a million people on the island of Tasmania killed in an instant. Volunteers go door to door collecting corpses. Occasionally, the deceased come “back online” turning into shambling wretches. Ava, however, is more interested in a restricted part of the country where she hopes to find her husband. Pairing up with a cynical volunteer named Clay (Brenton Thwaites), the two go awol diving into the heart of forbidden territory.
What transpires utilizes familiar plot points from zombie apocalypse pictures, yet We Bury the Dead manages to make certain clichés emotionally compelling. Although the movie may not seem to cover any new narrative territory, the presentation of events is what sets things apart from other shuffling ghoul features. Even the ending inspires certain disquieting questions undermining its happy aspects.
At risk of spoilers, the first resurrected individual plainly seen is shown in darkness, dimly lit by flashlights. The individual looks nightmarish enough. Then the room gets better lit by an open door, and in the sunlight, the figure becomes tragic rather than monstrous, a pitiable wretch more likely to inspire tears than fears. Such regular shifts which pull the audience’s emotions and shift the perception of events are littered like landmines throughout We Bury the Dead.
Furthermore, Ava’s purpose is given an interesting weight. Throughout the film writer-director Zak Hilditch has her glance at objects or experience interactions which trigger brief flashbacks. These flickers of memory never interrupt the flow, while being concise enough to convey details about an imperfect marriage. This isn’t a tale of true love questing after a lost soulmate so much as someone hoping for one last chance to fix a fracture.
That said, the main theme of We Bury the Dead seems to be that what’s dead is done. Even when resurrected, the deceased simply act as reminders of what’s lost. While there aren’t many more layers beneath that subtext, it’s an interesting exploration through a mix of road trip apocalypse with a dash of mild Southern Gothic. The great thing being the reminder of how many facets one theme can possess.
We Bury the Dead may not have the breakneck pace some crave in zombie thrillers. That doesn’t keep the film from a mostly even pace. Every instant informs the audience or builds anticipation, sometimes alongside tension. Granted, it slows a tad in the middle, but the many aspects of that segment are frequently gut punches.
Still, this isn’t a run-and-gun zombie splatterfest for action fanatics. Nor is the movie a gore show slopping buckets of viscera and goop. That isn’t to say the undead aren’t hideous, or that some depictions aren’t haunting. In addition, the way those who come back online grind their teeth, clicking and clacking until they crack — it is truly discomforting. We Bury the Dead is closer to drama seasoned with scary elements than an action flick; it’s the kind of picture aimed at people who enjoy classic Romero rather than whatever Army of the Dead (2021) was trying to pull off.
Along the way, Zak Hilditch establishes some fabulous landscape shots implying grand scale disasters. We Bury the Dead does a great deal of visual storytelling that demands audiences observe the film actively rather than passively. There aren’t many cues such as music stings to signal it’s time to put the phone aside because it expects viewers to be viewing events. And those not doing so constantly will miss out on some amazing aspects that build not only the narrative but the overall world.
What results is a great example of how films can convey a lot without dialogue. One glorious scene shifts so many expectations built up by We Bury the Dead it leaves the viewer as emotionally tangled as the main character. There is never any evil in this horror story, though there is a perpetual air of madness caused by grief and the heart strangling realities of tragedy. That gothic aspect of impending insanity gives this nightmare a uniquely relatable atmosphere of awfulness.
Daisy Ridley is excellent as someone not entirely sure what they’ve gotten themselves into. There’s a nervousness to her performance like someone trying to hold their breath through a breakdown as if that’ll end things well. Brenton Thwaites (Titans) does fine as a clichéd jaded fellow. The flaws aren’t so much in the performance as the lack of interesting details about the character. Clay is a bit of a plot cog, moving the story forward but not doing much else. Mark Coles Smith (Mystery Road: Origin) plays Riley, a soldier who like every military individual in a zombie movie becomes problematic for his own reasons. What’s great here, though, is the depiction of someone corrupted by a sort of sad desperation.
Riley is a wonderful example of what makes We Bury the Dead great. The audience will anticipate certain things about him due to the clichéd nature of the role. However, learning about his motivations, the why behind what he does turns the character into someone almost pitiable because here even the wicked are wounded.
We Bury the Dead isn’t for anyone seeking a gory adventure full of gooey kills. This is a potent flick exploring how people can’t let go. In addition, it’s a quiet slow burning movie full of fabulous visual storytelling. Featuring a disquieting and hauntingly tragic version of the walking dead, this dramatic horror movie is worth watching.
