2026’s First Zombie Movie Has a Big Problem

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Zombies have been incredibly popular in movies and TV since George Romero created the original walking dead in his classic horror film, Night of the Living Dead. Since then, we’ve seen many successful zombie stories, like The Walking Dead, Zombieland, Dawn of the Dead, and Train to Busan. It’s no surprise that more zombie projects are coming in 2026, but the first one to be released is facing a unique challenge compared to other zombie films.

The zombie film, We Bury The Dead, features Daisy Ridley (known from Star Wars) in a story with a twist. In this world, a failed U.S. government experiment has essentially switched off the brains of everyone – people and animals – on the island of Tasmania. This leaves most of the population dead and decaying, though a few become more typical, traditional zombies. Ridley plays Ava Newman, who is determined to find her husband, who was away on business. She volunteers to help clear the bodies, hoping it will bring her closer to him.

The film follows Ava as she lands on a deadly island filled with corpses and the undead. At its heart, it’s a moving story about Daisy Ridley’s character grappling with personal loss while struggling to survive. However, the movie doesn’t deliver the typical zombie apocalypse experience many viewers might anticipate. Unlike most zombie films that explore a widespread, chaotic scenario where anyone can turn, We Bury The Dead takes a different approach, and this could disappoint those expecting a more traditional horror experience.

We Bury Our Grief

Please be aware that the following discussion contains minor spoilers for the film. While watching We Bury The Dead, I counted about three actual zombie attacks. However, the film isn’t lacking in quality just because it doesn’t have many action-packed scenes. It’s a “slow burn” movie, meaning it takes its time developing the story as Ava meets the undead. These zombies are mostly unsettling, quiet, and don’t pose an immediate threat. In fact, some of the creepiest zombie designs I’ve seen are featured in this film, even though they don’t actively attack anyone.

A particularly striking moment showcasing Ridley’s encounters with the undead occurs in a later scene of We Bury The Dead. Ava discovers a zombie digging its own grave, and surprisingly, it looks at her with what seems like sympathy. It then steps into the grave, waiting for Ava to finish it off. This isn’t a frightening scene, but a deeply moving one, demonstrating the strong storytelling found within this world.

One of the biggest weaknesses of the film We Bury The Dead is its marketing. It’s difficult to promote a zombie movie when it doesn’t feature a lot of actual zombie action, which explains why the trailers emphasized the scariest scenes. This is similar to what happened with the horror film It Comes at Night. The trailers for that 2017 movie showed zombies with oozing mouths, but those creatures turned out to be part of a dream sequence. This misled many viewers, who expected a traditional zombie film when It Comes at Night was actually a story about families struggling to survive in a collapsing world.

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave We Bury The Dead an 83% rating, but audiences only scored it 47% as of today. The movie was advertised as a high-energy zombie action film, but it turned out to be more of a slow-burn, thoughtful story. It’s understandable that some viewers were disappointed if they weren’t expecting that. This highlights a common issue with film marketing, and it seems like this 2026 zombie movie is a prime example.

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2026-01-07 17:13