Daisy Ridley and the 2-sided comeback of We Bury the Dead as Hulu sets May 8 launch
There is a useful contradiction at the center of daisy ridley‘s latest film: a zombie story built around grief, not just gore. We Bury the Dead is set for a May 8 streaming premiere, bringing a recent festival title to a wider audience after a limited theatrical run earlier this year. The film’s split reception makes it more interesting, not less. Critics and viewers landed far apart, which suggests this is less a straightforward genre entry than a slow-burn test of patience, mood, and expectations.
Why the May 8 streaming date matters now
The streaming release gives the film a second life after a run that did not translate into broad box office momentum. The title premiered at SXSW 2025 and later reached U. S. theaters on Jan. 2, 2026, before moving toward streaming. Its global box office total of $3. 8 million underlines how much of its audience may now be discovered at home rather than in theaters. For daisy ridley, that shift matters because the film’s value may be measured less by theatrical performance and more by whether viewers connect with its quieter, grief-driven approach.
What lies beneath the zombie premise
We Bury the Dead follows Ava, a physiotherapist who joins a military body retrieval unit on a zombie-infested island after a failed U. S. experiment. That setup sounds familiar on the surface, but the film’s framing changes the emphasis. Instead of leaning only on survival action, the story centers on loss, closure, and the uneasy emotional weight of handling the dead after disaster. The context provided describes the undead as violent “shamblers, ” yet the film is also said to treat them with a more empathetic lens, presenting them as once-loved human beings. That choice helps explain why the movie has remained divisive.
The reception numbers point to that divide clearly. The film holds an 88% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences are at 46%, while Metacritic sits at 61. That gap suggests the film is working better as an idea than as a universally satisfying genre experience. In other words, it may reward viewers open to a slower rhythm and a more psychological angle, while frustrating those expecting a conventional zombie sprint.
Daisy Ridley and the performance question
One of the few points of broad agreement is that daisy ridley’s performance has been well received. The context says it has been “universally appreciated, ” which is important because her role carries the film’s emotional center. Ava is not just navigating danger; she is also searching for her husband while processing personal grief. That dual burden gives the story a human spine. When a genre film is this dependent on tone, the lead performance becomes the bridge between concept and audience. If that bridge holds, the movie can endure beyond its box office total.
The cast also includes Brenton Thwaites, Mark Coles Smith, Kym Jackson, Matt Whelan, Chloe Hurst, Deanna Cooney, and Salme Geransar. Zak Hilditch wrote and directed the film, which is another clue to its shape: this is presented as a slow-burning drama wrapped inside a zombie framework, not a pure action vehicle.
Expert perspectives on the split reception
The available data points do more than describe a mixed response; they show a film caught between two viewing cultures. Festival audiences, critics, and theatrical buyers often value risk, while streaming audiences may want speed and immediate payoff. That tension is visible here. The 88% critics score signals respect for the film’s intentions, while the 46% audience score suggests the emotional gamble did not land evenly.
The context also ties the project to Ridley’s broader screen profile, noting that her return to the Star Wars franchise is imminent in a standalone movie. That detail matters because it keeps her in the center of a wider conversation about range. A performer moving between franchise recognition and smaller, riskier material can shape audience expectations in both directions.
Streaming reach and the wider genre picture
The May 8 debut places We Bury the Dead into a crowded zombie landscape, but its emphasis on grief and empathy gives it a distinct lane. The context links the genre’s recent resurgence to several major titles, yet this film’s identity is different: it is not built primarily around spectacle. That makes its arrival on streaming significant, because viewers who skipped the theatrical run now get a chance to decide whether the film’s slower emotional pace is the point rather than the drawback.
For daisy ridley, the release is also a reminder that not every screen role needs unanimous approval to have value. Some films become more legible after the first wave of reaction passes. The question now is whether this one finds a larger audience when expectations are lower and the setting is more forgiving. If it does, the May 8 premiere could become less of a landing spot than a reappraisal.
So the real test is simple: when the film reaches streaming on May 8, will viewers see a zombie thriller that underperformed, or a grief story that needed the right audience all along?
