By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
Zombie inspired films are a dime a dozen, and even though this one tries to be different, its plodding pace makes the film itself move just like a zombie, slow and clumsy. “We Bury the Dead” is an Australian made horror film that lacks the fright, action, or even comedy to defend its existence. Despite some interesting creativity and decent acting, the story stagnates in its own filth.
After an accidental explosion from a US missile seemingly kills the entire population of Tasmania, Australia, Ava (Daisy Ridley) volunteers for a clean-up crew with the hopes of finding her missing husband. As she and her new friend Clay (Brenton Thwaites) make their way through the devasted region to help dispose of the bodies, they discover the rumors of a small percentage of the dead reanimating are true. But the rising corpses aren’t the only ones to fear.
Australian writer/director Zak Hilditch does a decent job with the setup of this premise, setting the stage for a unique type of zombie horror. The problem is he takes way too long with the setup, leading the audience on too many different paths that go absolutely nowhere of interest. By the time Zak introduces the zombies, it is much too late and fails to generate any fright. The meandering subplots get lost along the protagonists’ journey to find a guy that seems decreasingly important as a motivational driver for the main characters. Between the sluggish pacing and odd distractions, viewer ambivalence grows to the point where they could care less whether or not these characters complete their quest.
Hilditch shows flashes of intense horror sequences, but these flashes occur only a couple of times throughout the production. One such moment is when the main character is on foot, weaving her way through a road littered with abandoned vehicles with an aggressive zombie nipping at her heels. This was the only horror inducing scene in the film, since most of the other five or so undead Aussies just stand around grinding their teeth. He inserts a random scene involving a military weirdo with a house in the middle of nowhere that provides some creepy moments, but its inclusion only serves to undermine the main story arc.
Once again, Daisy Ridley finds herself in a movie where her acting skills surpass the quality of direction and writing. Similar to her performance in last year’s dreadful movie, “Cleaner,” her best efforts to elevate the production come up short. She does well to exhibit a believable sense of urgency and fear, as well as supplying her character with enough backstory to add much needed depth. However, in terms of fighting off a special forces soldier, that is where the realism ends.
Brenton Thwaites also contributes some positive moments that make viewers wish he had more screentime. His almost aloof demeanor and carefree attitude lead to some of the only moments of levity. He also develops good on-screen chemistry with Ridley that gets damaged with his odd disappearing act at a critical moment in the story.
Much like a zombie, this film wanders aimlessly about with no clear purpose or direction, gnashing its teeth in anger as it is unable to satisfy audiences’ hunger. “We Bury the Dead” should remain buried in an unmarked grave to be forgotten in a week. Lacking horror, suspense, action, and interest, there is simply no justification to entertain this boring display of unfulfilled promise.
This movie earns:
