Star Wars alum Daisy Ridley is trading in the Force for brute Force! The actress trades her lightsaber for a bone-crunching axe to take on the undead in her next film, We Bury the Dead.
Vertical has released the first thrilling, heart-pounding trailer for director Zak Hilditch’s upcoming film. The trailer promises a pulse-pounding, intense ride filled with action and horror. Simultaneously, it delves deep into profound themes of grief, loss, and the devastating consequences of the apocalypse. The undead in this film aren’t slow, dumb zombies we see so often. They are mean, brutal, and fast. So you know you’re in for a wild ride.
Ridley stars as Ava Newman. She is a desperate woman whose life is shattered after a catastrophic military experiment goes horribly awry, ravaging the landscape with the undead. Ava’s sole focus is to locate her missing husband amidst the chaos, clinging to the hope of finding him alive.
To aid her search, Ava joins a “body retrieval unit” team. However, her mission takes a terrifying and chilling turn when the very corpses she is handling begin showing signs of life.
We Bury the Dead is the latest film from writer-director Zak Hilditch, who has a strong reputation for crafting bleak yet critically acclaimed scarefests. His previous works include the highly praised Stephen King adaptation 1922 and the apocalyptic thriller These Final Hours. Hilditch not only directed but also wrote the screenplay.
Ridley is joined by fellow cast members Brenton Thwaites (Titans), Mark Coles Smith (Beast of War), and Matt Whelan (“Narcos”).
We Bury the Dead debuted to rave reviews at the 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival (SXSW) in March. Vertical will unleash the film in theatres on Friday, January 2, 2026.
