We Bury the Dead (SXSW) Finds Closure in Death

Title: We Bury the Dead

First Non-Festival Release: TBD

Director: Zak Hildtich

Writer: Zak Hildtich

Runtime: 94 Minutes

Starring: Daisy Ridley, Brenton Thwaites, Mark Coles Smith

Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here

This film’s review was written after its screening at the South by Southwest Film Festival in 2025.

One of the more frustrating aspects of life is the impossibility of having an answer for everything. Sometimes the answers are obscured by secrets, barriers, or are fully beyond comprehension. This human desire pushes some to do whatever it takes for knowledge outside of their control.

Ava (Daisy Ridley) finds herself in such a conundrum when her husband is one of the hundreds of thousands of Tasmanians killed by a catastrophic electromagnetic pulse. Eager to find out if he’s somehow survived and to get closure for an argument they had before he left, she volunteers for a task force focused on burying the scores of dead bodies strewn about the island. Everything is safe according to the military, but the reports of some of the dead coming back to life unnerve Ava while giving her a glimmer of hope for her husband.

A haunting examination of closure, We Bury the Dead is an off-beat, unique take on the zombie film.

From the beginning, We Bury the Dead flips the script on traditional zombie scares for something special. While many zombie films tend to start either with an outbreak or follow a group of survivors far into the apocalypse, We Bury the Dead offers an interesting alternative. With most of the bodies posing no threat, only a few of the corpses reanimate here. And even those that do vary in danger. This, consequently, gives We Bury the Dead a sense of unpredictability that makes it more engaging than a generic zombie venture. There’s no dramatic finale of watching a horde descending on the heroes or a set of rules that give comfort to hapless survivors. This world is disorienting, contradictory, and even empty, much like its undead. This becomes the biggest strength of We Bury the Dead, even when its central character motivation is to seek out a loved one in the throes of it.

Ava’s grief is magnified from the limbo she exists in, one in which she has no resolution for her husband’s death or the final words they shared before he left. Her journey from the mainland to the remote island resort is relentless. Each obstacle challenges her resolve and forces her to confront the nature of their relationship. Much like the undead around her, the lack of finality in their fate draws parallels to Ava’s relationship. Although, deep in her heart, Ava knows that the prospects are grim. Even if her husband is one of the few that returns, what becomes of his life? Would they even have a future regardless? Could they move past their differences? As Ava learns more during this painful experience, it eats away at her that what she finds may not be what she wants.

Daisy Ridley’s performance anchors the film, exploring Ava’s trauma as she traverses the Tasmanian backroads to reach her husband. Allowing her grief and fear to betray her resolve, Ridley gives Ava a balance of strength and vulnerability while still embracing the few lighter moments that break through the fiery haze of the wilderness. While much of the film falls on her shoulders, Ridley’s chemistry with her co-stars adds flavor to the horror drama. Brenton Thwaites’s Clay injects much needed humor to the picture while Mark Coles Smith kickstarts the adrenaline.

Perhaps one of its biggest strengths is its design and behavior of its zombie antagonists. Choosing to make its undead less of a threat than other films, We Bury the Dead plays more with the variety of ways its scenario can be keep viewers on edge. Their signature behavior also elicits more shudders than expected: a gnashing of teeth that will make anyone who has ever grounded their teeth squirm and cringe in reflexive sympathy. The differences may look marginal, but they add just enough to the story to make it functionally different in how it unnerves, which is an absolute welcome change.

It doesn’t reinvent the sub-genre, but We Bury the Dead does enough as a dread-inducing sojourn through an apocalypse, both of society and the individual. Between its unique approach to zombie lore and Daisy Ridley’s powerful performance, there is plenty to chew on in this apocalyptic drama. The scares may not be traditional, and the story itself might not excite in its subversions, but We Bury the Dead does enough to warrant celebration for a sub-genre that continually recycles conventions year after year.

Overall Score? 7/10