We Bury the Dead

"We Bury The Dead" is truly compelling for the first half of the film but then loses its momentum. As the film begins, it crosses a spectrum of emotions from chilling, horrific to ultimately tragic. What's really disturbing about this film is that it's wholly believable, too. It's so well done. We get scenes of apocalyptic destruction in Tasmania, Australia. We see people emotionally broken and seeking answers as a result of the death of loved ones. Many come to help in the massive cleanup operation in the hope they can say "goodbye". You see a woman crying at the side of her dead son, while Australian soldiers look on and awkwardly try to console her. It's heart-wrenching stuff. Worse still, some people come back from the dead as zombie-like things who grow ever more violent the longer they are left in a reanimated state. Then we have the main character trying to find her husband, who was on a business trip to Tasmania. Her relationship with him, which is slowly revealed as the story unfolds, is complex, fraught and messy. In other words, wholly human. She is there to say goodbye not just to him but what her life with him represented. Backing all of this is excellent cinematography with images of Tasmania's natural beauty juxtaposed with scenes of universal death and destruction. Tasmania has become a beautiful graveyard. I was utterly drawn in by the first half of this film, which is why I was sorry to see it lose its impetus and coherence in the latter half. There are too many asides which don't add meaningfully to the story nor see it come to the heartfelt ending it deserves. In summary, this could have been an Australian great. The first half is so memorable, but sadly it fades to insignificance in the latter part of the film, depriving it of its impact. That said, I still recommend "We Bury The Dead" for the absolute cinematic gold the first portion of this film represents.