Welcome to the first newsletter of 2026! Here’s to all your favorite watches, theater watches, repeat watches, and movies we will watch for the first time this year that will stay with us for the rest of our lives.
Here’s what we have for you this week:
Concession Stand Scorecard: We Bury The Dead
Watchlist Worthy: Nolan’s next epic
ICYMI: Josh and Eric talk about crying during movies and such
This week’s movie - We Bury the Dead
Letterboxd Description:
Volunteers needed.
After a catastrophic military disaster, the dead don’t just rise - they hunt. Ava searches for her missing husband, but what she finds is far more terrifying.
Best Watched With
Dentists and your choice of zombie self-defense weapon
End Credit Thoughts
Why do some movies with inhumane plots and walking corpses show us so much humanity, dignity, and personhood? This movie was made in 2024, but it has not been seen on many silver screens until now. Maybe it’s the delay that makes the surfacing of this two-year-old film feel like a hidden gem, but we were pleasantly surprised with enjoyment wandering out of the theater after this tight 90-minute banger of a zombie movie.
It is not a typical horror zombie movie. Don’t think Dawn of the Dead, World War Z, or Train to Busan going into this one. Even Zombieland has more gore and slashing kills. Don’t expect a fight-for-survival, conventional zombie flick. We Bury the Dead leans more towards drama and psychological horror that explores morality, love, loss, and grief. Ava (Daisy Ridley) volunteers to help retrieve bodies after a catastrophic military disaster killing hundreds of thousands. Some return to their bodies somewhere between living and dead. She does so in hopes of finding her husband, who is within the area of destruction.
We were more than halfway through the movie before we realized the main character was the protagonist of the latest Star Wars movies, Daisy Ridley. We must admit we haven’t seen much of her work outside the far, far away galaxies, but her status as the Jedi Rey did not conflict with our reception of her as Ava. She is believable as the character, giving us a torn, hopeful, and conflicted American wife who travels miles and miles in search of answers. She carries every minute of this film, full of emotion and determination.
Brenton Thwaites has the second-most screen time and does well in supporting Ridley’s performance. More of a wild card, who seems an inch deep, his character, Clay, adds complexity to the world of We Bury the Dead and is used effectively at times for a bit of levity.
The writer and director, Zak Hilditch, does an excellent job telling this story through who the characters are as well as what they do. Our brain gears were gearing more than anticipated, and we laughed a few times above par, which we thought would be zero. Of course, there are a couple of jump scares (more than a couple for Josh, but that isn’t the best form of measurement). But We Bury the Dead is more of a thinker. By trudging through the ugly and decimated, grace and beauty can be found in the messiness of life.
Horror genre lovers will find this movie Horror Lite, but we still think there's much to enjoy here. Solid performances, a quick 94-minute runtime that is tight and well-oiled, not rushed but moving at an enjoyable pace. People who want commentary on humanity and its shortcomings, and who enjoy diving into questions of morality and what it means to be human, will like this story. But one will still need a strong stomach. The zombies are still hard to look at, and the sound design was killer. There is a particular sound associated with the zombies that made us want to crawl out of our skin and never hear it again (the draaamaaaaa… but it was very unpleasant).
In a historically bad month of theatrical releases, We Bury the Dead brings some life to cinema-going lovers. An excellent matinee movie for most; some wouldn’t mind paying full price, and we bet none would be upset watching this one at home when it comes to streaming.
The edge goes to wait till streaming, but primarily because if you are limited on time and money for the theaters, horror fans will want to save for January 16th when 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple releases.
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The Odyssey by Christopher Nolan
This trailer has been out for a bit and the internet is already buzzing about it (you can take our movie nerd cards from us) but I’m stoked to see it. What a fun direction from of the greatest directors alive right now. Also love how the same dorks that were up in arms (pun in intended) about Gladiator II having sharks in the Colosseum are mad about helmets. This movie is going to rule.
Letterboxd Description:
Defy the gods.
Odysseus, the legendary Greek king of Ithaca, embarks on a long and perilous journey home following the Trojan War, chronicling his encounters with mythical beings such as the Cyclops Polyphemus, the Sirens, and the witch-goddess Circe, while attempting to reunite with his wife, Penelope.
Movies Directed by Chris Nolan:
Interstellar (2014)
Oppenheimer (2023)
The Dark Knight (2008)
Train Dreams: Spoilers #66
🎧 Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube
Josh and Eric discuss the critically acclaimed film ‘Train Dreams,’ directed by Clint Bentley and adapted from Denis Johnson’s novella. The conversation delves into the film’s stunning visual storytelling, the compelling performances by Joel Edgerton and William H. Macy, and its impactful narrative about a logger navigating love, loss, and monumental change in early 20th-century America.
12:25 Train Dreams Spoilers
Tune in next week for | Greenland 2: Migration or Primate
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