Plot: What’s it about?
Let’s face it: movies about the undead are dime a dozen. You’ve got the classics, the modern classics and everything in between. In other words, there’s no shortage of entertainment, on both the small and big screen, out there. And judging by the sheer amount out there, it’s a lot of people’s thing. So, to find a new take on what could be described as a tired and cliched genre, we need a hook. Does We Bury the Dead provide that hook? It might be argued that it does. Switching gears we’ll look at the film’s director, Zak Hilditch. He might not have mainstream “A” list credits on his resume, but he’s no flash in the pan. Hilditch, who also wrote the film, breathes some new life (pardon the pun) into this genre. Of course we have to ask ourselves if it worked. Let’s find out.
A military accident has caused half a million people in Australia to die. Ava (Daisy Ridley), a woman whose husband was in Tasmania when the event occured, doesn’t know if he’d dead or alive or, perhaps, somewhere in between. Having volunteered to be part of a small unit assigned to enter specified zones and retrieval of bodies might provide her with that answer. This, however, is somewhat of a ruse and Ava manages to convince a fellow team member, Clay (Brenton Thwaites) to accompany her into an unsanctioned zone where she’s likely to find him. It’s a violation of the protocol and won’t bode to well for them if caught. Upon finding some of these undead, they discover that violence isn’t their natural tendency. While they do reanimate shortly after death, they’re portrayed more human than the mindless zombies that we’ve become so accustomed to in other films. Adding a new layer is how Ava’s personal arc unfolds. She’s got a very specific reason to find her husband and when it finally comes to fruition, it brings an emotional impact to the movie.
It sounds corny to say, but We Bury the Dead bring a much more human element to this tired genre and one that makes the film work on a few levels. Certainly Ridley carries the film with one of her better performances. Bear in mind that she also had a major part in the last three Star Wars films – not an easy feat and something that looks great on a resume (not that she needs it). But the idea of looking at a dead/undead person who reanimates and not only craving brains or mindlessly walking towards an endless goal is a bit of a lark. We’ve not really seen this approach taken and it does seem to work here. It’s not perfect, of course, there are some things that left me scratching my head, but all in all it’s not a bad way to spend 94 minutes.
Video: How’s it look?
As you’ll read below (this is assuming you read from top to bottom, otherwise never mind) the transfer for this film doesn’t come out of the 90’s like the audio. This Blu-ray sports a nice 2.39:1 AVC HD encode that’s brimming with detail, bold colors and a wide aspect ratio that utilizes every inch of the frame. One thing about films of this nature/genre is the attention to detail in the “dead”, be it some showing teeth, blood coming out of cuts and so forth. I can imagine if a makeup artist gets the call for a “zombie” movie, they’ll either be in heaven or hell. That aside, the picture is certainly indiditive of what we’ve come to expect from a new film and I had no complaints. And let’s face it, Daisy Ridley isn’t exactly hard on the eyes.
Audio: How’s it sound?
I had to do a double take when looking at the back of the box. Could it be? Yep. There is was…”Dolby Digital” looking at me right in the eye. Hmmm…this is odd. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like a Dolby Digital mix can’t sound good, but given that this is a new-to-the-format disc and sports an audio codec that we had on LaserDiscs back in 1996, it’s a bit odd. But, hey, my job is to review a disc and part of that review is its sound, so away we go. By and large, the film is dialogue driven with a nice, even-sound across the front stage. The undead make a noise that sounds like loud teeth-grinding. It’s eerie and unnerving, creating a nails-on-a-chalkboard reaction whenever they come on screen. There are some surrounds to speak of, but they sound a bit “thin” for lack of a better term. I think I’ve become so accustomed to uncompressed soundtracks with things coming out of each and every one of my speakers – it’s been a while since only 5.1 of these were used. Nevertheless, don’t let this deter you from picking this up – it’s just an odd decision in this day and age.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Here’s hoping you like the film, because this disc is featureless.
The Bottom Line
This is like, yet unlike, other movies of the same genre. While the thrills that are found in some other movies aren’t present here, we get a much more “human” (pardon the pun) experience that let’s this one stand on its own. The disc looks good, but the lack of features and an antiquated sound mix might make this one a hard sell.
