We Bury the Dead is a wild, ash-covered journey through a post-apocalyptic Tasmania where the dead don't stay dead and the living barely manage to survive. Zak Hilditch (These Final Hours) delivers a raw and gritty zombie survival story that balances visceral body horror with an unexpected dose of humanity and a healthy dose of dark humor.
Daisy Ridley is a revelation as Ava, a grieving physiotherapist who volunteers with a military corpse recovery unit after Hobart is ravaged by a runaway American weapon. She's not a gun-toting hero, just a woman trying to find her missing husband amidst the chaos. Ridley plays her with heartbreaking humanity, slowly evolving from a cautious outsider to a desperate survivor.
Director: Zak Hilditch
Writer: Zak Hilditch
Stars: Daisy Ridley, Brenton Thwaites, Mark Coles Smith
Brenton Thwaites, as the foul-mouthed, wisecracking Clay, steals the show. His vulgar slang, irreverent humor, and brazen machismo provide much-needed levity to the film's bleak landscape. He and Ridley make an unlikely but compelling pair, stealing a motorcycle and heading south through a Tasmania ravaged by smoke, decay, and the walking dead.
The world-building is intense: mass graves, deserted towns, rotting livestock, and beaches littered with downed planes. Hayley Atherton's gruesome makeup and Jason Baird's prosthetics are disgusting in the best way. The practical effects, combined with Merlin Eden's impeccable visual effects and Christopher Stephen Clark's vibrant electronic score, create a visceral cinematic experience. Mark Coles Smith adds further depth as a hardened soldier whose encounter with Ava and Clay triggers one of the film's most tense and morally complex moments.
While it gets a little sentimental in the final act, the journey is so raw, heartbreaking, and compelling that every emotional beat feels earned. It's an apocalyptic road trip where love, loss, and chaos collide, and it never ceases to be entertaining. Hilditch takes a risk with this film, offering a unique and distinctly Australian take on the zombie genre that seems destined to become a cult classic. Imagine 28 Days Later meets Mad Max, with a dash of Australian humor and a very sharp shovel.
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