We Bury the Dead is a zombie survival thriller starring Daisy Ridley. Released on January 2, the Hollywood movie has emerged as one of the early critical highlights of the new year. While its theatrical release is limited, it's expected to find a loyal audience base in India once it is available on a decent scale in cities like Hyderabad and Mumbai.
The film's premise as per Wikipedia: Ava Newman (Daisy Ridley), a desperate woman, searches for her husband in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment. Hoping to find him alive, Ava joins a "body retrieval unit", but her search takes a chilling turn when the corpses she's burying start showing signs of life.
What are critics saying?
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a strong 86% approval rating from critics (based on dozens of reviews). Most of the reviews are of the view that it's a well-crafted zombie movie.
IndieWire's Katie Rife hailed the "top-notch" production values, including compelling performances, urgent pacing, and gorgeous cinematography. Variety described it as "most interesting" when delivering "brand-new spins" on zombie tropes, resulting in haunting scenes that probe the human condition. The Guardian called Ridley's performance "impressively modest" in a "slightly smarter-than-average survival tale," while The New York Times noted its most effective moments evoke a world "dazed with trauma" and the search for personal closure.
A movie buff described the film as "bleak, violent and depressing". It is "beautiful to look at and engaging from beginning to end, and is about grieving and a journey of catharsis".
Negative reviews, too, are noticeable. As per some critics, We Bury the Dead occasionally struggles with pacing.
