A Zombie Thriller That Thinks Before It Bites
We Bury the Dead is the Daisy Ridley movie that trades lightsabers for body bags and trauma. Directed by Zak Hilditch, the film follows Ava, played by the Rey Star Wars actress, who volunteers for a body-retrieval unit after a disastrous U.S. military weapon test in Tasmania turns the dead into violent, reanimated “shamblers.” Rather than sprinting straight into action, the movie leans into psychological tension and slow-burn drama, using zombies as a mirror for grief and the need for closure. The undead are framed as once-loved people, pushing the story toward empathy rather than simple enemy-target practice. Already making noise on PVOD and drawing praise for Ridley’s performance, We Bury the Dead will be available as a zombie thriller streaming option on Hulu starting May 8, with 4K UHD and Blu-ray to follow on July 8.
From Rey to Ava: Daisy Ridley Breaks Her Own Mold
For many viewers, Daisy Ridley is still synonymous with Rey, the hopeful scavenger-turned-Jedi who fought for the light in Star Wars. We Bury the Dead deliberately flips that heroic, destiny-driven image. As Ava, Ridley isn’t a chosen one; she is a shattered woman haunted by personal loss, forcing herself into a nightmare zone to search for her missing husband among the shamblers. The character’s choices are guided less by cosmic purpose and more by messy, human coping mechanisms. That contrast lets Ridley abandon the spiritual certainty of Star Wars in favor of ambiguity, guilt, and moral fatigue. Early reactions may be divided overall, but critics have singled out her layered work. For anyone tracking Star Wars actors careers after the saga, this is a crucial text: a statement that Ridley can carry a film where the biggest battle is in her character’s head.
Joining a Growing Dark Side of Star Wars Alumni
Ridley’s pivot to a psychological zombie thriller places her in a lineage of Star Wars actors using genre projects to recalibrate their images. Just as Harrison Ford moved from Han Solo to harder-edged sci-fi like Blade Runner and beyond, the new generation is chasing roles that resist fan expectations. We Bury the Dead stands out because it overlaps familiar genre territory—undead hordes, military mishaps—with the more introspective tones usually seen in prestige series like The Last of Us. Instead of leaning on spectacle, Hilditch foregrounds character, letting Ridley play exhaustion, denial, and fragile hope. That approach mirrors how other Star Wars alumni have leveraged horror and thriller spaces to prove range, while still attracting genre fans. For Ridley, Ava could become the performance that convinces skeptical viewers she is far more than Rey, opening doors well beyond a galaxy far, far away.
Is ‘We Bury the Dead’ Worth Your Streaming Time?
If you come to We Bury the Dead expecting Jedi acrobatics with zombies, you will be disappointed. The movie favors eerie quiet over big set pieces, lingering on Ava’s emotional state as much as on the shamblers themselves. Critics have responded strongly to this angle, reflected in an 88% score, while audiences are split, at 46%, suggesting expectations may clash with the film’s more measured pace. For Star Wars fans, the best way to watch is to treat it as a character study first and a zombie thriller second. Expect grief, moral compromise, and a grounded Daisy Ridley performance that rarely winks at her past as Rey. Do not expect constant gore or nonstop action. If you are curious about how Star Wars actors careers evolve after franchise fame, queuing this up on Hulu from May 8 is an easy, worthwhile bet.