Movies that start with a wedding often don’t end well for the couple. Starting with a so-called happy ending can actually guarantee a reversal of fortunes. In the case of “We Bury the Dead,” in theaters Friday, something cosmically devastating is coming: the accidental detonation of an experimental weapon that instantly wipes out nearly 500,000 people in Tasmania, including Ava’s husband Mitch. Maybe they should have toasted something else Kid Cudi’s “The Pursuit of Happyness.”
Grief unfolds in its own way for everyone and the only thing Ava can think about is getting on a plane and looking for Mitch. It is almost certain that he is dead. In fact, the resort where she stayed on the work trip is just south of the area that is still burning – the humanitarian cleanup mission she joins is not allowed there. There’s also a little added complication: some of the dead are “coming back.” Those trying to help are told not to worry, but also not to act. Just light a fire and someone in the army will be there immediately to kill them. again.
If Zombie’s promise can send some hightailings back across the ocean, Ava is only excited by hope. What if Mitch is one of the resurrected ones? What could this mean? Why do some come back and others not? What if he could be saved? If this sounds like a somewhat delusional dream, especially when she starts getting glimpses of some zombie specimens with blood-curdling teeth-grinding and generally obnoxious demeanor, just wait: there’s at least one person she’ll meet who has an even more insane plan.
Ava works dutifully for some time, removing bodies from wherever they have fallen. It’s disgusting, thankless work filled with foul odors, bodily fluids, and the occasional jump scare. His partner, Clay, seems mostly unaffected by all this. With his long hair and ’70s moustache, he is a product of a different era despite his young age, more interested in leftover cocaine and the ambitious cars and motorcycles he finds along the way than any larger purpose. Eventually, Ava decides to ask him to help her, and they head into the forbidden area.
The film was written and directed by Zach Hilditch, an Australian filmmaker perhaps best known for “These Final Hours”, an apocalyptic thriller also based on extinction and reproduction.
“We Bury the Dead” is ultimately a movie about grief that’s unsure whether it wants to go full-on zombie. We feel his desperate search for Ava, though it’s a bit of a noticeable slow burn as the story offers little insight into how his marriage had already fallen apart. Perhaps some real-time reflection for those watching her in this quest might have been helpful, but the script forces her story into flashbacks. Today’s Ava will have to keep all this in front of her eyes.
Zombies have long served as cinematic metaphors, and this film takes at least a few nods to the novel. But it doesn’t fully commit to its idea that some zombies may have souls worth saving and instead descends into more familiar tropes. Also, despite the constant teeth-grinding, it’s a little unclear what happens when someone gets bitten/scratched/whatever by a dead person.
Anyway, the threat of zombies keeps things interesting, perhaps because it’s all come before, but it feels like the film is falling victim to the same predicament as its protagonist. Both are looking for closure, a bigger point, something that can give meaning to the whole thing. What they both arrive at is the kind of wild, bizarre ending that turns what seemed like a decent original standalone into something much more sinister: a setup.
“We Bury the Dead,” in vertical release in theaters Friday, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for “strong violent content, brief drug use, language, gore.” Running time: 95 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
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