Del and Mladen review ‘We Bury the Dead’

Image courtesy of Vertical Entertainment.

“We Bury the Dead” Starring Daisy Ridley as Ava, Brenton Thwaites as Clay, and Mark Coles Smith as Riley. Directed by Zak Hilditch. 1 hour, 34 minutes. Rated R. Theatrical release.

Plot summary: Ava has gone to Tasmania to search for her husband, who was in the area when an American experimental weapons test went awry and killed most of the people there, transforming others into weird, “offline” catatonia victims. Along the way she discovers insights about the victims of the disaster and herself.

Spoilers: Actually, not really. We did a good job of not exposing the big reveals.

Del’s take

“We Bury the Dead” is one of those quiet little movies that sneaks into and out of theaters on little cat feet. That would be consistent with the tone of this moody, atmospheric zombie thriller.

What’s good about “We Bury the Dead” is very good. Unfortunately, what’s bad is hard to overlook.

The movie debuted on the film festival circuit in 2024 and is just now reaching theaters in the United States. I had not seen a single trailer for it in all my movie-going this year. If you hope to see it yourself, better hurry. I think it won’t be around long.

The movie is about Ava (Daisy Ridley), an American who travels to the island of Tasmania in search of her husband, Mitch (Matt Whelan), who was attending a corporate retreat at a resort when the United States tests an experimental weapon of mass destruction known only as “the pulse” off the coast of Australia. The device killed just about everybody on the island. Those who didn’t die had their brains scrambled, placing them in a coma-like state referred to in the movie as “offline.” But some of the offliners have started to come back “online,” though in a radically altered state – some are passive, others aggressive, and some are maybe even sentient.

The island is restricted from public access, but Ava joins a body reclamation crew with the intent of skipping out when the opportunity presents itself and heading to the resort to find her husband. To accomplish this she enlists the help of her reclamation partner, Clay (Brenton Thwaites), a free-spirited beach bum type who is more than happy to boost a crotch rocket Ducati and blaze off into the zombie-infested hinterlands on a dangerous new adventure.

The movie has several strengths. The cinematography is breathtaking. Director Hilditch has a taste for long, tracking shots, imbuing beauty to even ugly vistas such as the city of Hobart in flames. He uses distance as an establishing visual to suggest the poetic isolation of this new and tragic world. And he also understands the concept of Theater of the Mind by using darkness or obscured visuals to generate tension. I was jolted in my seat by a couple of scenes.

Chris Clark’s score is eerie, lush and entirely consistent with the tone of the movie. It’s accompanied by violins and vocals by Rakhi Singh, and peppered with singles from PJ Harvey, Kid Cudi and Metric, to name a few.

Plus, Hilditch manages to bring something new to the zombie mythos. These aren’t ravening beasts eager for human brains or flesh, though some appear headed in that direction. In a way they strike me as avatars for what many of us have become – folks who are stunned by the onslaught of change in these rapidly evolving and confusing times.

As for the flaws in “We Bury the Dead,” I have two major gripes.

1. The motivation for Ava undertaking this journey doesn’t make sense to me. I can’t go into detail without spoiling the movie. Suffice it to say there’s a revelation toward the end that will come as a surprise, and Hilditch seems so determined to spring this surprise on his audience, he sets aside the internal logic of the story.

2. Ava and Clay are shitty people – not Trump Cabinet-level shitty but not the kind of folks you want to root for. In fact, I can’t think of a single sympathetic character in the entire film. They were all creepy, selfish and hedonistic in one way or another.

In many ways “We Bury the Dead” reminds me of 1987’s “Near Dark.” Both are stylish horror films that transform their respective mythoses into something new. But ultimately, “We Bury the Dead” offers only a thin promise of redemption at the very end, and that was not enough to compel a more enthusiastic review.

I’m giving the movie a B-. I think Hilditch is a talented moviemaker and “We Bury the Dead” has some great ideas, and was beautiful to look at and listen to. But logic flaws and unlikable characters reduce this effort to the status of Nice Try, Better Luck Next Time.

Mladen’s take

I didn’t dislike “We Bury the Dead.” Nor did I like the newly released film now in theaters. What’s left? Dislikable likability. Likable dislikability. A C+ or a C-?

Have to hand it to the producers, writer/director, and actors for taking a risk with an artsy film that tackles zombie‑ish‑ness. And by that I mean telling a story about Aussies brain‑fried by the accidental detonation of a Yankee device and the principal non‑affected humans who have zombie‑like moral bearings.

The “We Bury the Dead” score is energetic or brooding, intense or subtle, soft or loud to match the unfolding scene.

The cinematography is stylish without descending into the contemporary trap of too much CGI. The background scenes of an austere, somewhat arid, somewhat lush land added to the movie’s vivid filmscape. And, frankly, I can’t get enough of the panoramic shots of a city ablaze.

The acting in “We Bury the Dead” is very good. Ridley as troubled, guilt‑riddled Ava, Thwaites as puckish rake Clay, and Coles Smith as an indefatigable and nascent creep Riley all hit the mark. Somehow, the movie explains all the strangeness that drives the trio but I didn’t buy it. Would any of us take a step into a man‑made deadly unknown to seek redemption for the bad acts we committed in the past or some such other nonsense?  

That’s the trouble with “We Bury the Dead.” It uses a localized apocalyptic event and its consequences to introduce personal stories that end up intertwining. The plot makes less and less sense as we learn more about Ava, Clay, and Riley and their adventures into the stricken zone. And, then, there’s a happy ending. Or at least one that exudes hopefulness. I hate hopefulness. We all know mankind’s story. We all know mankind, as individuals and as a herd, fucks up again and again and each fuck-up gets worse because our technology has advanced. Where’s the hope amid that reality? Sheesh.

And, enough already with graphic vomiting in films. It’s gross. It’s trite. It’s unimaginative. It’s an unneeded way to show disgust or illness or drunkenness. If you’re compelled to include vomiting in your movie, show it indirectly as background noise or someone heaving into a punch bowl from their backside.

Most disappointing of all is the undeveloped potential of the pseudo‑zombies portrayed in “We Bury the Dead.” Some of the humans who came “online” – back to something resembling life – after the big-boom mishap are catatonic, some are ragers as in the “28 Days Later” franchise, and some are very human. I still don’t understand how Ava failed to address one of the very human humanoids by his name during a touching scene to determine if the once‑male was aware of his personhood. This would’ve flowed perfectly with Ava’s hunch that not all onliners were vacant intellectually, that not all onliners were Trump. The Ava‑Zombie Family Man interaction wouldn’t have added much length to the 94-minute movie but it sure as hell would’ve added some soulfulness.

Look, see “We Bury the Dead” in the theater to reward its risk‑taking. Filmmaking needs folks like the ones who produced, directed, and acted in the movie. And, there’s enough there to make “We Bury the Dead” a cinematic experience even if it ain’t perfect.

Mladen Rudman is a former journalist and technical writer. Del Stone Jr. is a former journalist and writer.