Zombie Thriller ‘We Bury the Dead’ Starring Daisy Ridley Acquired by Vertical

Vertical has acquired the North American rights to the post-apocalyptic zombie thriller We Bury the Dead starring Star Wars‘ Daisy Ridley, Deadline has learned.

Written and directed by Zak Hilditch (1922), the Australian film is due out in 2026.

After a catastrophic American military experiment results in mass casualties across Tasmania, Ava (Ridley) joins a body retrieval unit to help identify the dead and search for her husband on the southern part of the island. As Ava makes her way south, across the ravaged landscape, she soon learns that some of the victims of the disaster are coming back to life.

Brenton Thwaites (“Titans”), Mark Coles Smith (“Apple Cider Vinegar”), and Matt Whelan (“Narcos”) co-star.

“With a great cast led by Daisy Ridley and Brenton Thwaites, Zak has re-energized the zombie genre with We Bury the Dead,” said Vertical partner Peter Jarowey. “Next year, North American audiences will be on the edge of their seats watching this post-apocalyptic thriller.”

The film is a Penguin Empire production in partnership with Campfire Studios. Major production investment came from Screen Australia in association with Screenwest, Lotterywest and the WA Regional Screen Fund, with production financing provided by Peachtree Media Partners.

Meagan Navarro wrote in her review out of SXSW, “We Bury the Dead is exquisitely shot, employing dynamic imagery and showcasing the natural beauty of the countryside even as it is laid waste by unthinkable catastrophe. Daisy Ridley is a capable performer, especially during stretches of wordless emotion, and there’s more than one standout scene that induces chills. But Hilditch frequently opts to avoid taking any new path forward in favor of sticking with the much traveled subgenre and grief theme, leaving you frustrated by all the fresh ideas dangled but not explored.”