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Star Wars' Daisy Ridley was "pushed to her limit" filming new zombie horror We Bury the Dead – though the promise of that was a big reason she signed onto the project, says writer-director Zak Hilditch.
Also starring Brenton Thwaites (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales), the movie offers up a unique take on post-apocalyptic dread, as it sees Ridley's physical therapist Ava travel to Tasmania, Australia to try and track down her husband Mitch. She's not heard from him since the US accidentally detonated an experimental weapon off the Eastern coast of the island and wiped out Hobart, a city close to where Mitch was shacked up on a business trip – but she's hopeful he might have survived.
"She was the first one cast. We sent the script out to her and within one week, we were zooming and we were off to the races," Hilditch tells GamesRadar+. "She was all in and… it will never happen that way again. It continues to never happen on other projects, like, it was just so quick. But sometimes, like with 1922, these planets align. Just as I couldn't imagine anyone but Thomas Jane pulling off the role of Wilfred James [in Netflix's 1922], Daisy just is Ava, so I'm just so glad that she responded to it."
Given that it's a zombie flick, it's no surprise that actually finding Mitch isn't Ava's sole concern; it's whether or not he'll still actually... be himself when she does. Most of the locals died when the weapon hit, either from the blast or its noxious aftermath, but there are a few that regained motor function despite being technically brain dead. Said victims exhibit violent behaviors, which has led to the military designating different roles for those still alive-and-kicking, from safe-guarding to body disposal.
"[Daisy] just gave her absolute all. I hadn't seen her do anything quite like this before, and I think she also got a lot out of, like, doing something that was going to push her to her limit," adds Hilditch.
"Yeah, she just got to try things out there she hasn't probably been able to try out yet. The whole movie rests on her shoulders, and you're just completely engrossed every second she's on screen. You're just rooting for her, you know? [Her character] takes so many hits throughout the movie that, you know, we're really on her side by the time everything comes out in the wash."
In the film, Ava's path crosses with that of Clay's, a clean-up guy who's got a shockingly chill outlook despite all that's going on around him. The pair clash initially, but form an unlikely alliance when Ava suggests they ditch their duties, jumpstart a bike, and head south to Woodbridge, where Mitch was last seen.
"I just love movies where you've got someone's yin to someone's yang. From a writing point of view, it was like, 'Okay, who's the worst person she could be paired up with?' It had to be someone who's just exhibiting the complete opposite traits that Ava has," says Hilditch. "So it had to be the Aussie who'll say whatever the fuck he wants; the perfect stick of dynamite to throw into the movie. [Brenton] gets all the best lines, he gets all the best laughs.
"It's [been] so good watching the movie with audiences. I've been on a festival junket all year, which has been just amazing, seeing how people respond to Clay and how those gags land in a very organic way – when you're wrapped up in the emotion and the tension, it'll be broken by Brenton. He's such a great actor; he's got all that everyman charm, he's oozing sex appeal, and I can't wait for the rest of the world to see him in this different light."
We Bury the Dead is out in US theaters now, and arrives on Digital HD in the UK on February 2. For more, check out our guide to all the upcoming horror movies heading our way.
