Movies that begin with a wedding often don’t bode well for the couple. Starting with the so-called happy ending can only really guarantee a reversal of fortune. In the case of “We Bury the Dead,” in theaters Friday, something cosmically catastrophic is coming: the accidental detonation of an experimental weapon that instantly wipes out some 500,000 people in Tasmania, including Ava’s (Daisy Ridley) husband Mitch (Matt Whelan). Perhaps they should have toasted to something other than Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare).”
Grief manifests for everyone in its own way and the only thing Ava can think to do is board a plane and search for Mitch. It’s almost certain he’s dead. In fact, the resort where he was staying on a work trip is south of an area that is still burning — the humanitarian cleanup mission she joins isn’t allowed to go there. There’s a little extra complication too: Some of the dead have been “coming back.” The helpers are told not to worry, but also not to engage. Simply light a flare and someone in the military will be there quickly to kill them. Again.
If the promise of zombies might send some hightailing back across the ocean, Ava is only emboldened by hope. What if Mitch is one of the reanimated? What could it mean? Why do some come back and not others? What if he can be saved? If it seems like a somewhat delusional dream, especially once she starts getting glimpses of some of the zombie specimens with their bloodcurdling teeth grinding and generally unpleasant demeanor, just wait: There’s at least one person she’ll meet who has an even crazier plan.
Ava works dutifully for a bit, removing bodies from wherever they’ve fallen. It’s disgusting, thankless work full of smells, bodily fluids and the occasional jump scare. Her partner, Clay (Brenton Thwaites), seems mostly unbothered by it all. With his long hair and '70s dropout mustache, he’s a product of a different era despite his young age, more interested in the leftover cocaine and aspirational cars and motorcycles they encounter along the way than any bigger purpose. Eventually, Ava decides to just ask him to help her, and off they go into the forbidden zone.
The film was written and directed by Zak Hilditch, an Australian filmmaker perhaps best known for “These Final Hours,” also an apocalyptic thriller with extinction and procreation on its mind.
“We Bury the Dead” is ultimately a movie about grief that seems to be unsure of how much it wants to go full zombie. We feel for Ava on her hopeless quest, although it’s a bit of a meditative slow burn as the story reveals little morsels about how her marriage had already curdled. Perhaps some real-time reflection might have been helpful for those watching her on this quest, but the screenplay relegates her story to flashbacks. Present-day Ava has to keep it all in the eyes.
Zombies have long served as cinematic metaphors, and this film at least gestures toward something novel. But it also doesn't totally commit to its own idea that some of the zombies might have souls worth saving and instead delves into more familiar tropes. Also, despite the consistent teeth grinding, it remains a bit unclear what happens if and when one gets bit/scratched/whatever by the undead.
Nonetheless, the very threat of zombies keeps things kind of interesting, perhaps because of all that's come before, but this film seems to be suffering the same plight as its protagonist. Both are searching for closure, a bigger point, something that might give the whole thing meaning. What they both arrive at is the kind of wild, bizarre ending that turns what once seemed like a decent original standalone into something much more terrifying: A setup.
“We Bury the Dead,” a Vertical release in theaters Friday, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for “strong violent content, brief drug use, language, gore.” Running time: 95 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
This image released by Vertical shows Daisy Ridley in a scene from "We Bury the Dead." (Vertical via AP)
This image released by Vertical shows Daisy Ridley, left, and Brenton Thwaites in a scene from "We Bury the Dead." (Vertical via AP)
This image released by Vertical shows Daisy Ridley in a scene from "We Bury the Dead." (Vertical via AP)
Two men who died after their helicopters collided midair in New Jersey over the weekend both received their pilot licenses later in life and would often have breakfast together at a cafe near the crash site before taking to the skies from the local airport.
Authorities on Monday identified the two New Jersey men as Kenneth Kirsch, 65, and Michael Greenberg, 71. Witnesses told police that the two helicopters they were piloting Sunday were flying close together just before they crashed in a farm field near the airport in Hammonton, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) southeast of Philadelphia.
Hammonton Police Chief Kevin Friel said in a statement that Kirsch, of Carney’s Point, was pronounced dead at an area hospital after being flown there, while Greenberg, of Sewell, died at the crash site.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board were examining the accident site on Monday and determined the debris field is about 100 yards (91 meters) long and contains parts of the main rotors and tail rotors, a spokesperson said. Both helicopters are expected to be removed from the site Tuesday and taken to another location for further review.
A preliminary report is expected in about 30 days, the NTSB said.
Friel said rescuers responded to a report of an aviation crash at about 11:25 a.m. Sunday. Video from the scene shows a helicopter spinning rapidly to the ground. Police and fire crews subsequently extinguished flames that engulfed one of the helicopters.
The Federal Aviation Administration described the crash as a midair collision between an Enstrom F-28A helicopter and Enstrom 280C helicopter near Hammonton Municipal Airport. Only the pilots were on board.
Kirsch and Greenberg both received their pilot licenses in 2014, FAA records show. They often stopped at the Apron Cafe next to the airport for breakfast before flying, said the restaurant's owner, Sal Silipino.
Silipino said Kirsch and Greenberg ate at the cafe shortly before the crash. Patrons watched the helicopters take off from the airport and were stunned when the aircraft fell from the sky, he said.
“It was shocking. Still shaking to see that happen,” Silipino said. “They were just at our café having breakfast. They’re regulars. They come in every week or every other week. They fly in together. They seem to be very nice people. They were also very kind to the workers and staff and all.”
He said the helicopters' flights appeared to begin without incident.
“I saw one go down and then I saw the other one go down and there was little bit of disbelief. It’s like, is that really happening?," Silipino said.
FAA records show Kirsch was the registered owner of one of the helicopters, while the other aircraft was registered to M&M Charter LLC of Mountville, Pennsylvania. Contact information for M&M Charter could not be immediately found Monday.
Hammonton resident Dan Dameshek told NBC10 that he was leaving a gym when he heard a loud snap and saw two helicopters spinning out of control.
“Immediately, the first helicopter went from right side up to upside down and started rapidly spinning, falling out of the air,” Dameshek told the TV station. “And then it looked like the second helicopter was OK for a second, and then it sounded like another snap or something ... and then that helicopter started rapidly spinning out of the air.”
Hammonton is a town of about 15,000 people located in Atlantic County in the southern part of New Jersey. The town has a history of agriculture and is located near the Pine Barrens, a forested wilderness area that covers more than 1 million acres (405,000 hectares).
Investigators will likely first look to review any communications between the two pilots and whether they were able to see each other, said Alan Diehl, a former crash investigator for the FAA and NTSB.
“Virtually all midair collisions are a failure to what they call ‘see and avoid,’” Diehl said. “Clearly they’ll be looking at the out-of-cockpit views of the two aircraft and seeing if one pilot was approaching from the blind side.”
Although it was mostly cloudy at the time of the crash, winds were light and visibility was good, according to the weather forecasting company AccuWeather.
Debris from a helicopter is shown after two helicopters crashed in Hammonton, N.J., on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (WPVI-TV/6ABC via AP)
