We Bury the Dead 2025 Movie Review
This film is interesting in that it’s not just a generic zombie flick where it’s just about killing zombies; the struggle with the zombies in this film functions as an allegory for the struggle with grief. It’s a pretty contemplative, and even melancholy, film at times.
As Ava works on the body retrieval unit in hopes of finding her husband in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment, she finds something unsettling with the bodies she comes across. As she works through retrieving these bodies, she is simultaneously working through her grief of losing her husband. The film does a good job of interspersing past memories and the gravity of the grief for Ava with the growing dread. As she learns more and more about these bodies, who show signs of life, she’s learning more and more about her grief and begins to show signs of life herself as the film goes on; in the beginning Ava is grief-stricken, and towards the end she begins warming up to life again. The parallels in the film are nice.
The cinematography and acting are both really good. The shots of the Tasmanian land is nice. Ridley is compelling as the (strong female) lead and is the heart of the film. She easily transitions from being fierce during the action scenes to tender in the more moving scenes. Thwaites is charming, and Smith is good and unsettling.
That being said, the film does have its issues. The pacing feels off at times. There are some great action scenes, and then there are some scenes that feel a tad prolix. It’s as though the filmmakers were unsure if they were making a wistful drama about grief, a thriller about a woman in a land full of zombies, or a horror film about the walking dead. And while the journey is generally pretty thrilling, the ending ultimately does feel a bit disappointing. It’s abrupt and felt kind of tacked on.
Overall, this is a pretty good film. Good acting, particularly from Ridley; nice cinematography; and tense, unsettling, and thrilling action sequences carry the film and hold it all together. While the writing can feel lacking at times, and it’s mainly due to this that the film has its issues, if you don’t think too much about it, you should enjoy it.
