We Bury the Dead Release Date Update
We Bury the Dead is set to release in US theaters on 2 January 2026 as a limited theatrical run, kicking off the 2026 movie year with a bleak, zombie‑flavored bang. That means it is not “coming someday maybe” anymore – there is a concrete date, distributor (Vertical), and promo cycle already in motion.DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) shared on X a new trailer for We Bury the Dead, a zombie survival thriller starring Daisy Ridley, set to hit theaters on January 2.
In the festival world, the film has already been doing the rounds, premiering at SXSW in March 2025 and showing up at genre‑friendly stops like the Melbourne International Film Festival and Germany’s Fantasy Filmfest, so early horror die‑hards have actually seen it while the rest of us have just been doom‑scrolling reactions.
For Australia and New Zealand, the release is locked in for 5 February 2026, with additional rollouts in markets like Greece and Israel around early January, so expect that slightly messy, staggered global schedule horror fans know all too well.
We Bury the Dead Cast
The core cast of We Bury the Dead is led by Daisy Ridley as Ava Newman, a woman searching for her missing husband in the aftermath of a military disaster where the dead inconveniently refuse to stay dead. Seeing Ridley jump from galaxy‑far‑far‑away hero to mud‑and‑blood survival horror feels like exactly the kind of career left‑turn that keeps an actor interesting – and horror fans tend to remember these grounded genre swings more than some glossy franchise roles.
Here are the key cast members, in simple bullets rather than a giant robotic table:
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Daisy Ridley – Ava Newman, the desperate lead searching for her husband
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Brenton Thwaites – Clay, a major presence in Ava’s orbit
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Mark Coles Smith – Riley, part of the tense, military‑scarred world around Ava
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Matt Whelan – Mitch, tied closely to the retrieval unit story line
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Kym Jackson – Lt. Wilkie, a military officer trying to keep a lid on the chaos
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Deanna Cooney – Bianca / Ava’s first partner in the field
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Chloe Hurst – Katie, adding more texture to the human side of the crisis
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Matt Parkin – Truck Driver, one of those small roles that ends up weirdly memorable in apocalypse movies
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Salme Geransar – Private Clarkson, part of the on‑the‑ground military presence
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Megan Hollier – Farm Girl, another glimpse of everyday life colliding with horror
Behind the camera, the whole thing is written and directed by Zak Hilditch, who already proved he can do bleak, slow‑burn dread with the Stephen King adaptation 1922, so expectations in the horror community are quietly (okay, not so quietly) high.
We Bury the Dead Trailer
Yes, there is an official We Bury the Dead trailer out now, released by distributor Vertical and clearly labeled with the 2 January 2026 date. This is not one of those fan‑cut “official teaser???” uploads. The Vertical trailer spells out the premise, lists Daisy Ridley, Brenton Thwaites, and Mark Coles Smith, and leans into the line “the dead don’t just rise – they hunt,” which is a pretty strong thesis statement for what you’re signing up for.
There are also multiple trailer uploads from film‑trailer channels (FilmSpot, Rapid Trailer, Screendollars), all anchored around the same January 2, 2026, release date, which is usually a good sign the marketing machine is properly aligned and not in rumor‑only mode.
The tone in these clips feels more grim and survivalist than goofy splatter; if anything, it plays like a grief‑driven war movie that just happens to have undead things lurking in the fog, which is exactly the sort of vibe some horror fans have been missing.
About We Bury the Dead
We Bury the Dead is a survival horror‑thriller set after a catastrophic military experiment in Tasmania, where Ava joins a government “body retrieval unit” to look for her missing husband, only to realize the bodies they are supposed to bury are starting to move again. The film mixes zombie‑adjacent horror with themes of grief, duty, and the very human instinct to keep searching for someone long after logic says they are gone, which might be why early festival chatter has focused as much on emotion as on gore.
Production‑wise, it is an Australian‑US co‑production shot in Western Australia, with a relatively lean 90‑ish‑minute runtime and a focus on grounded locations rather than glossy CGI overload.
For anyone who likes their horror release‑date news with actual value (not fluff), the key takeaway is simple: the movie is finished, has played festivals, has an official trailer, and has a firm January 2, 2026 US theatrical date, with further international rollouts in early 2026 – so this is one of those cases where waiting is annoying, but at least not uncertain.
Disclaimer
Information about release dates, platforms, and availability may change due to distributor decisions or regional scheduling. Readers should double‑check with official movie websites, distributors, or local cinema listings for the latest updates before making plans. This article is for general informational and educational purposes only.
