We Bury the Dead is a 2024 survival horror movie from writer/ director Zak Hilditch (1922, These Final Hours and Rattlesnake), starring Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Murder on the Orient Express and Young Woman of the Sea), Mark Coles Smith (Mystery Road: Origin, Last Cab to Darwin and Pawno), Brenton Thwaites (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Gods of Egypt and Oculus) and Matt Whelan (Workmates, Narcos and The Tavern). 

The United States accidentally deploys an experimental bomb in the Tasman Sea to the east of the island of Tasmania, causing the destruction of the island’s capital, Hobart and killing or injuring hundreds of thousands of people in the process. Those, not caught in the original blast have survived but are brain dead. Eventually, some of the brain-dead start to recover motor function, in some instances becoming violent.  Our main character, Ava (Ridley) is a physiotherapist whose husband was on the island, in the town of Woodbridge, a 35-minute drive from Hobart, when the blast took place. She signs up to help with the retrieval and disposal of the bodies, in the hope that she will find her missing husband safe and well.

Ava befriends another of the team, Clay (Thwaites) and the pair head off on a motorcycle to try and find her husband, Mitch (Whelan). While resting the pair are attacked by one of the undead and are saved by a soldier named Riley (Coles Smith). Ava falls asleep while Riley questions Clay about what they’re doing, and when she wakes up Clay has gone. Riley claims Clay ran away, but something doesn’t seem right. Will Ava ever get to Woodbridge and receive some sort of closure, what really happened to Clay and what’s really going on with Riley?

We Bury the Dead tries to steer clear of the usual zombie movie tropes, and has some interesting ideas. Riley’s character is fascinating, and his backstory is one of the more interesting plot points, but I don’t want to reveal any spoilers. However, it is the Tasmanian countryside that is the true star of the film,  with some pretty good cinematography from Steve Annis (The Colour Out of Space, The Crow 2024, and I Am Mother). The scenes of Clay and Ava riding through the countryside surrounded by abandoned cars is one that really resonated with me, and the imagery of the dust storms and the smoke rising from Hobart in the distance will stick in the memory. None of this should surprise anyone who has seen Annis’ work on The Colour Out of Space, which is a psychedelic masterpiece of cinematography. The cast is good, particularly Ridley, who is very grounded and gives a really good performance. However, despite all of this the film never seems to quite deliver everything it might. There are the bones of a very good film here, with some genuinely original moments, however it almost feels as if it were all set up for something altogether grander, but it never quite materialises. On the plus side, it’s still a reasonably solid entry in the zombie genre, with some original ideas and a film I would still recommend watching for the interesting stuff it does. On a side note, any film that uses Can on its soundtrack is alright with me.

The Blu-ray from Signature, looks great but features no bonus materials at all. It’s not a deal breaker, but a few interviews and maybe an audio commentary would have helped this disc to sell a few more copies here and there.  Overall, it’s a solid release for a solid film. Not as good as it perhaps could have been, but it has enough about it that should make it a good watch for fans of genre cinema.