We Bury the Dead (2024) | Film Review

There’s a quiet, mournful air hanging over We Bury the Dead, and if you’re walking in expecting shambling hordes tearing people limb from limb, and blood by the gallon, you might want to shelve those expectations before watching.

This isn’t your typical flesh-feasting free-for-all with gore levels equal to the Evil Dead franchise. Instead, it’s a somber meditation wrapped in decaying skin – a zombie film that’s far more interested in what’s left beating inside the living than what’s rotting outside.

Daisy Ridley is front and centre, delivering a performance that absolutely carries the weight of the film. I’ve had a soft spot for her since Star Wars: The Force Awakens (J.J. Abrams, 2015), but nostalgia aside, she’s genuinely fantastic in this. There’s a rawness and restraint to her portrayal that grounds the film’s heavier themes and pulls you back to a rather grim reality. She doesn’t just act grief, she embodies it. Every decision, every flicker of hope or despair, feels authentic. The supporting cast are equally solid, never overshadowed, each adding texture to this bleak, grief, corpse ridden world.

What makes We Bury the Dead particularly intriguing is the mystery surrounding its undead and the accident that caused everything in the first place. It’s very different to anything I’ve seen in a zombie film before. Furthermore, the how and why following the ‘event’ are never fully explained, and refreshingly so. There’s no overlong exposition dump, no neat scientific bow tied around the outbreak. The ambiguity lingers, adding to the unease. It feels bigger than the characters, and that works in the film’s favour.

The design of the dead themselves is effective when we see them. There’s a grim, tactile realism to their look; unsettling without feeling over-designed. But here’s the thing: they’re used sparingly. If you’re expecting wave after wave of tension-filled encounters, you may find yourself waiting. The zombie presence is there, but it’s not the driving force. This isn’t about survival in the traditional sense – it’s about emotional survival.

And that’s where the film really plants its flag. Compassion and humanity ripple throughout the narrative. Unfinished business haunts the living as much as the undead. But the core theme, and the one that cuts deepest, is grief. How we process it. How we learn to live with loss. How we carry it. How it can isolate us or bind us together. Ridley’s journey is less about outrunning monsters and more about confronting loss.

If you’re looking for something in the vein of an iconic Romero flick like Night of the Living Dead (1968) or the relentless chaos of Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later (2002), you’ll likely walk away disappointed. We Bury the Dead shares far more DNA with the aching intimacy of Maggie (Henry Hobson, 2015) or the quiet devastation of Cargo (Ben Howling & Yolanda Ramke, 2017). It’s restrained. Personal. Almost mournful in its pacing.

We Bury the Dead (2024) | Film Review

The story itself takes a turn in its closing stretch that lands like a gut punch. The revelation that her journey may have ultimately been for nothing – that his departure, his search for solace in someone else’s arms, was in part because of her – adds a cruel twist to the knife. There’s even the haunting implication that by driving him away, she may have inadvertently sealed his fate. It’s bleak. It’s tragic. And it lingers.

By the time the credits roll, you’re not left exhilarated – you’re left hollow. Reflective. A little heartbroken. It’s all a bit sad really…

We Bury the Dead isn’t an out-and-out zombie film. It’s a different kind of undead story. One about loss, regret, and the fragile threads of humanity that persist even when the world has fallen apart. And sometimes, that kind of horror cuts the deepest.

Huge thank you to Signature Entertainment for the Blu-ray, very happy this is part of my collection! You can check out more info on them and their upcoming releases via their WEBSITE.

We Bury the Dead is out now on digital, DVD & Blu-ray.