"Dead" injects complications of marital grief into familiar zombie trope

 

As a wife searching for her missing/infected/possibly dead husband in Tasmania, Ava (Daisy Ridley) evokes emotions of anger and sadness at once. She volunteers to remove the bodies of the dead, and to notify the army to kill any remaining dead who 'wake up' (a side effect of the experimental weapons explosion that created the catastrophe to begin with). Ultimately, she'll team up with Clay (Brenton Thwaites), a laid back dude who enjoys a drink and riding fast motorcycles, before being thrown into the thick of things. Grieving husbands, the undead lurking behind every corner, and a sense of dread and impending doom like none other.

We Bury the Dead borrows elements from previous zombie movies (28 Days/Weeks/Years Later), while injecting the story with an uncommon marital despair twist in the final act that I didn't see coming. Director/writer Zack Hilditch has managed to construct something original out of numerous pieces of recycled material, and for that he must be given proper credit. I, for one, will be looking out for his next cinematic output.

☆☆☆