“Bury Your Dead” is a Brazilian apocalyptic thriller that follows Edgar Wilson, a roadkill collector who dreams of escaping his small town with the love of his life, Nete. After she joins her family in an apocalyptic cult, he must embark on a dangerous road trip while confronting his inner demons. It’s based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Ana Paula Maia.
After the release of “We Bury the Dead” in January 2026, we’re now on to “Bury Your Dead.” While they share similar titles, Zak Hilditch’s film took place in a zombie apocalypse. Here, the end-of-times scenario is more vague.
As the synopsis reads, Edgar Wilson is a roadkill collector. Most viewers (including myself) wouldn’t be able to handle this line of work, full of wounded animals, rotting carcasses and even more unsettling sights. “Bury Your Dead” is not afraid to showcase this lifestyle in complete graphic detail. Because of the in-your-face approach, some will be turned away almost immediately. However, this bluntness does serve a purpose, expressing the dwindling humanity remaining in this apocalyptic world.
Mirroring the decay of Earth itself, “Bury Your Dead” uses chapters as a structural storytelling device. It’s a narrative told in seven chapters. Only, it starts with “7” and works its way down to “1.” This is a purposeful choice by writer-director Marco Dutra. Normally, you would expect “Chapter 1” to begin a tale, followed by a sequential advancement. By doing the opposite, there is a growing sense of finality even at the very beginning. Dutra evokes dread from this simple countdown decision alone.
Outside of the unique structure, the film is fundamentally bold as a whole — sometimes too much so for its own good. When thinking about the end of the world, there are countless doomsday scenarios that could occur. “Bury Your Dead” captures a large chunk of them. There’s a cult, dead animals, hallucinogenic teas, rocks shot into the sky and rockets attempting to leave the planet. On top of it all, there’s even a serial killer subplot. You may be confused just reading that list; it’s just as overcrowded in the movie itself. Fortunately, over the first hour of the 128-minute runtime, these ideas are left on the back burner. When focusing on how all these external factors affect humans on an individual level, it flourishes. Once it expands into the spectacle of it all, the story itself begins to fall apart.
There’s no sugarcoating it; “Bury Your Dead” is way too long. Instead of stretching into a 2-plus-hour experience, the narrative would have functioned better around the 100-minute mark.
The entire cast elevates the material. Selton Mello (Edgar Wilson) is the focus, portraying a character who has many troubling traits but keeps them all trapped inside. Because of this, his delivery is mostly deadpan, both verbally and physically. Also appearing are Marjorie Estiano (Nete) and Danilo Grangheia (Tomás). Estiano immediately brings charisma to the screen, but her performance quickly shifts, transforming her delivery to match her character’s descent. Grangheia has less screen time, but he is featured in a number of memorable moments as an excommunicated priest.
While this ambition may be too extreme story-wise, it doesn’t diminish the visuals. Director of photography Rui Poças largely keeps the camera static, lingering on the growing emptiness of the world. It’s the color grading that makes each scene pop, with deeply saturated colors emphasizing the surrealist atmosphere. The effects — both practical and computer-generated — can’t be forgotten, either. Similar to a classic like “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” “Bury Your Dead” always attempts to maintain realism. Even when it moves into the realm of CGI, this hyper-realistic approach remains. Despite the faults of the script itself, there’s no doubt that this remains one of the most visually stunning movies of the year.
By the time the film reaches its end, there’s not enough momentum remaining. It’s a frustrating experience, as the potential is apparent in the individual pieces, but they’re too jumbled to remain engaging as a whole.
“Bury Your Dead” has the ideas, but there are too many of them. What begins as a striking portrait of societal collapse turns into an unrecognizable mixture of strangeness.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
