With Daisy Ridley’s new horror kicking off the 2026 film 12 months, We Bury the Useless has surprisingly left critics and audiences divided on Rotten Tomatoes. The survival thriller follows Ridley’s protagonist, who’s trying to find her lacking husband after a army experiment had gone mistaken. Nonetheless, as she is burying the lifeless, she realizes the corpse is coming again to life as zombies.
The zombie horror premiered in March 2025 at SXSW, the place critics gave usually constructive critiques. In consequence, Zak Hilditch’s We Bury the Useless maintained a powerful Rotten Tomatoes rating of 84% primarily based on 57 critiques.
With the New Yr simply beginning, We Bury the Useless grew to become one of many first new releases of 2026, and it appeared that the horror could be a promising begin. With audiences now viewing the movie, nonetheless, they don’t seem to be as impressed with the brand new horror flick, resulting in a 47% rating primarily based on over 50 verified scores. However, critics and audiences are divided on their views in regards to the new Ridley film.
Based mostly on a number of critiques, We Bury the Useless takes a refreshing premise on the horror subgenre. Whereas most zombie motion pictures concentrate on the motion and survival components, the brand new horror showcases an emotional story of 1’s journey via loss and grief, even with the specter of the undead.
Whereas switching from a lightsaber to an ax, Ridley’s highly effective efficiency was additionally praised by critics, which even overcomes a number of the extra noticeable flaws with the movie.
In ScreenRant’s overview of We Bury the Useless, Grant Hermanns sided with nearly all of the critics, giving it a powerful 8 out of 10 stars. His overview focuses on the solid, significantly that “Ridley deftly brings a extra reserved nature to our protagonist, understanding when to let her feelings run, whereas nonetheless pulling again simply sufficient to allude to one thing larger happening along with her.”
Though he admits that the zombie components are nonetheless too acquainted, he nonetheless discovered the route to be refreshing, particularly by way of the worldbuilding and lore.
Whereas We Bury the Useless reinvigorates the zombie subgenre, audiences weren’t as impressed. Some famous points with the movie being too gradual and uninteresting, relatively than having the standard suspense and thrills marketed for zombie horror. Others argue that the brand new film just isn’t precisely a zombie film.
Sadly, the viewers rating marks Ridley’s first film within the final three years to attain beneath 50%. Up until this level, viewers have been responding favorably to her movies, corresponding to The Cleaner and The Marsh King’s Daughter, which earned 66% and 74%, respectively. Since 2023, her final 5 motion pictures have earned “recent” Popcornmeter designations on Rotten Tomatoes.
|
Daisy Ridley Films |
Rotten Tomatoes’ Critics Rating |
Rotten Tomatoes Viewers Rating |
|---|---|---|
|
The Marsh King’s Daughter (2023) |
40% |
74% |
|
Typically I Suppose About Dying (2024) |
82% |
69% |
|
Younger Girl and the Sea (2024) |
89% |
96% |
|
Magpie (2024) |
81% |
77% |
|
Cleaner (2025) |
51% |
66% |
|
We Bury the Useless (2026) |
84% |
47% |
However, the brand new zombie film is the most recent addition to Ridley’s filmography since her time as Rey within the Star Wars universe. She has had a number of critically-acclaimed movies, together with Magpie and Younger Girl and the Sea.
Whereas there have but to be any further developments on the brand new Rey film, Ridley has a romantic comedy, The Final Resort, releasing subsequent month. Her co-star contains one other Star Wars alum, Alden Ehrenreich, who performed younger Han Solo within the prequel film Solo.
We Bury the Useless is now taking part in in theaters.
- Launch Date
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January 2, 2026
- Runtime
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95 minutes
- Director
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Zak Hilditch
- Writers
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Zak Hilditch
- Producers
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Grant Sputore, Ross M. Dinerstein, Mark Fasano, Kelvin Munro, Joshua Harris