We Bury the Dead

Following a United States military experiment gone wrong, a large section of Tasmania is dead and the city of Hobart is still in flames. Spurred on by the need to find her husband (Matt Whelan), who was on a corporate retreat near the southern coast, Ava (Daisy Ridley) signs up to help identify the dead. Adding to the flavor of the film is the fact that a small percentage of those killed by the blast come back to life as zombies.

I'd classify We Bury the Dead as a psychological thriller which happens to include zombies more than a straightforward zombie film. With a small cast set in a mostly desolate landscape, writer/director Zak Hilditch gets points for the look and oppressive feel of the film. Primarily devoted to Ava (Ridley) and her mental state, other important characters include the partner she's paired off with (Brenton Thwaites) who she convinces to make a dangerous run to the south to search for her husband and Mark Coles Smith as the most notable soldier Ava meets in her time on the island.

The zombie scenes, although there are far less than you might expect, are handled well. However, I wonder if there are enough of them for those expecting more of a classic genre film. The full-on zombie attack is rarely highlighted in favor of showing the newly-raised zombies which seem to have some limited understanding and need. The best example is the family Ava finds on her journey south. It's an intriguing idea, but not one that is ever fully fleshed-out.

This is a film fueled almost entirely on emotional need and obsession, blinding characters to anything resembling common sense. Ridley's Ava is the driving force of the film, pushing herself south in an illogical attempt to find her husband and somehow fix her flawed marriage knowing at best she will only find either a corpse or likely bloodthirsty zombie waiting for her. It's Ridley's involvement in the project that caught my interest, and We Bury the Dead is worth a look for her performance as well as the overall look of both the zombies and the the broken world around them.

• Title: We Bury the Dead
• IMDb: link