We Bury The Dead

Official Australian release date: 5/2/26. Viewed: 8/2/26.
Director: Zak Hilditch
Actors: Daisy Ridley, Brenton Thwaites, Mark Coles Smith, Matt Whelan
Genre: Drama / Horror
Rating: MA

‘We Bury The Dead’ is an Australian zombie film, that doesn’t really focus on the zombie aspect and spends more time dealing with grief, sorrow and the relationship between Ava (Ridley) and Mitch (Whelan). The premise sounds great and a bit different = America accidentally lets off an experimental bomb near Tasmania, which kills every living animal, including humans, on the island. Then, some of those dead are reanimating, so the army sends down volunteers to literally clear and bury the dead.

Ava is paired with Clay (Thwaites), who makes sure to swear enough that we know he’s Australian, and they go about the grisly job of clearing house is Tassie’s north. The film does well to set-up the scenario and mood. When Ava and Clay head towards Hobart, we run into Riley (Coles Smith), who plays a very different character to Jay Swan. There’s lots of quiet & eerie moments, and a few gross ones, but nothing too violent/scary. We get a few more zombies in the last 30min or so, but not necessarily what you’re expecting.

There’s some good Aussie songs throughout, and it’s part road-trip film. But probably more focus on Ava & Mitch’s relationship via flashbacks than was needed. It’s certainly no ‘28 Years Later’, but doesn’t try to be. Reminiscent of Hilditch’s ‘These Final Hours’ – both try hard, but are a little slow. Nice to see Australian scenery and actors, but not sure why it was mostly filmed in WA if set in Tas? Odd ending, but in-line with the more melancholic vibe.

Overall: Different, more dramatic/less horrific, zombie film

Gav’s Rating: 3 stars

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

Official Australian release date: 15/1/26. Viewed: 1/2/26.
Director: Nia DaCosta
Actors: Ralph Fiennes, Alfie Williams, Jack O’Connell, Chi Lewis-Parry
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Rating: MA

‘28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ is the 4^th film in the franchise, and the middle of this recent trilogy, coming only 7 months after ’28 Years Later’. While strongly linked, the tone here is much different, as we focus on two main narratives – Dr Ian Kelson (Fiennes) & Samson (Lewis-Parry) as they try to uncover a cure for the virus; and Spike (Williams) & Sir Jimmy (O’Connell) as he tries to adapt and survive in what is effectively a satanic cult. We get to know most of the 7 other Jimmy’s, but Jimmy Ink (Kellyman) is key.

This film has a calmer pace, and while still featuring a few zombie/scare moments, it focuses much more on the marauding Jimmys and how much evil humans can bestow on each other, rather than the run/hide tension of zombie films. The heart comes from Spike, Ian and Samson as they try to find a path through. To where, is the question?

The soundtrack is great – Duran Duran, Radiohead and Iron Maiden, all used to great effect. There’s s bit of a quiet mid-section, but it’s interposed with a particularly tough scene of “charity” – O’Connell is a particularly great bad guy. Then it all picks up for the final scenes, where Fiennes is excellent – he’s interesting in every shot he’s in. Near-faultless finish.

Overall: Really strong evolution

Gav’s Rating: 4 stars

Is This Thing On?

Official Australian release date: 5/2/26. Viewed: 26/1/26.
Director: Bradley Cooper
Actors: Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Andra Day, Bradley Cooper
Genre: Drama
Rating: M

‘Is This Thing On?’ is a simple indie family drama that follows Alex (Arnett) and Tess (Dern) as they separate, and the impact on their marriage, lives, parents Jan (Hinds) & Marilyn (Ebersole) and kids – Felix (Kane) & Jude (Knegten). Alex deals with this by inadvertently taking up stand-up comedy at New York open-mic nights, hence the title – although I’m not sure he actually says that specific line. Obviously he’s awkward and unpractised, but has plenty of recent life events to use as stories.

We get to see how Alex & Tess deal with their amicable split with their mutual friends, Christine (Day) & Balls (Cooper), plus Stephen (Hayes) & Geoffrey (Icenogle). They have relatively minor roles, but it’s fun to see Cooper as a director, and then getting to play an absent-minded stoner too. He uses lots of handheld camera, with lots of close-ups, which leads to an intimacy with Alex and Tess. Arnett is good and mostly-subdued, not an over-the-top caricature, pretty far removed from Gob.

It’s quite quick at 2 hours, and maybe has some unnecessary moments, but does a good job to show  a realistic relationship and the impact of decisions on friends and family. The cast is great, the  stand-up is OK and good to watch Alex progress. Ending and song choice are very strong.

Overall: Enjoyable human story

Gav’s Rating: 4 stars

Marty Supreme

Official Australian release date: 22/1/26. Viewed: 24/1/26.
Director: Josh Safdie
Actors: Timotheé Chalamet, Odessa A’zion, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin O’Leary
Genre: Drama / Biopic
Rating: M

‘Marty Supreme’ is a biopic that’s based on a real-life table tennis player, but sensationalised. Set in 1950s New York, we follow a 23-year-old Marty Mauser (Chalamet) as he chases his goal of being the best table tennis player in the USA and the world. This involves some sketchy ways to get the funds to play in tournaments, his driving force for most of the film.

Even though it’s about table tennis, there’s not too much actual time watching him play, compared to most sport biopics. Definitely feels like some is CGI, but you can tell Chalamet practiced quite a bit. We spend more time trying to decipher his family – mum Rebecca (Drescher) & uncle Murray (Sloman) are barely in it, and his relationship with Rachel (A’zion) is complicated, to say the least. He has some friends and helpers – Wally (Okonma) and Dion (Manley), but he does a convincing job of being so narcissistic to push most of them away.

The driving force is how his ambition and confidence lead to his involvement with actress Kay (Paltrow) and her husband Milton (O’Leary) and their role in assisting him in getting to Japan to play in the big tournament. Certainly some interesting moments throughout 2.5 hours! It probably could’ve been slightly shorter, but Chalamet makes Marty a whirlwind to watch, in all respects, and it’s easy to see why the film received a few Oscar nominations.

Overall: Engrossing exploration of one man’s excessive ambition

Gav’s Rating: 4 stars

 

The Housemaid

Official Australian release date: 26/12/25. Viewed: 11/1/26.
Director: Paul Feig
Actors: Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, Brandon Sklenar, Indiana Elle
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Rating: MA

‘The Housemaid’ is a well-made suburban thriller. We follow Millie (Sweeney), as she gets a new job as a housemaid for an affluent upstate New York family, hired by the Winchesters – wife Nina (Seyfried), husband Andrew (Sklenar) and daughter Cece (Elle). We’re then drip-fed new info that changes our perspective one way or another throughout.

It starts a bit slow, where we mostly have Nina and Millie, and then things slowly start to not add up. Then we get more time with Andrew, and then a big final 30min or so that really pays off. Some pretty good acting and solid score. It’s similar-ish to Feig’s ‘A Simple Favour’, but probably better. It’s not as funny as ‘The Heat’ or ‘Bridesmaids’, but has a few laughs.

Some violence and gore, but not too much, and Sweeney gets her kit off, which is not too shabby. Semi-obvious twist, but the key is the great comeuppance at the end, and good set-up for future films.

Overall: Enjoyable thriller

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars

Rental Family

Official Australian release date: 26/12/25. Viewed: 30/12/25.
Director: Hikari
Actors: Brendan Fraser, Mari Yamamoto, Takehiro Hira, Shannon Gorman
Genre: Drama
Rating: M

‘Rental Family’ starts off feeling like an off-beat comedy that’s going to explore the odd (to Western sensibilities) profession of having actors be emotional stand-ins at funerals, weddings, break-ups, etc. But it quickly turns into an examination of the emotional impact on these actors, primarily Phillip (Fraser), Shinji (Hira) and Aiko (Yamamoto). This is made easier by having Phillip being an expat American living in Tokyo, but who speaks Japanese well, so it’s only ~30% subtitles.

Things get complicated when Phillip agrees to play Mia (Gorman)’s Dad for Hitomi (Shinozaki), with a clear reckoning coming. All the actors are good, and the scenes with Mia and Phillip the most touching, but also Phillip and his time with aging actor Kikuo (Emoto) is handled well and may bring a few tears.

There’s definitely ‘Lost In Translation’ vibes, but Fraser plays it so humbly and calmly, that everything seems possible, but he also brings a quiet conviction with his sadness and humanity. I’m loving seeing him back in films, and while this has sad moments, it’s a bit more uplifting than ‘The Whale’!

Overall: Not a perfect film, maybe a little long, but well-made and worthwhile

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Official Australian release date: 18/12/25. Viewed: 28/12/25.
Director: James Cameron
Actors: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang
Genre: Sci-Fi / Action
Rating: M

‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ is the 3^rd Avatar film, and seems quick after ‘The Way of Water’ from only 3 years ago, but a trilogy over 17 years is quite spaced out compared to most. This is an almost immediate sequel to the previous film and follows Jake Sully (Worthington) and Neytiri (Saldana) and their children Lo’ak (Dalton), Kiri (Weaver), Tuk (Bliss) & Spider (Champion) as they grieve the losses. They’re still with the sea people (Curtis & Winslet).

Much like ‘The Way of Water’, Quaritch (Lang) is still alive in a Navi body and still hunting the Sullys. We have lots of recurring characters – Norm (Moore), Garvin (Clement), Scoresby (Cowell), Selfridge (Ribisi), as we spend a bit of the film in the human settlement. However, the main plot follows Varang (Chaplin), a sort-of-witch who leads the Ash/bad Navi and aligns with Quaritch to hunt the Sullys. We also have more of the whales (“Tulkun”), which is both happy and sad. Good to see Clement’s arc, and he almost gets some jokes in.

While it feels a bit like déjà vu, as there’s lots of similar beats to the previous film and the ending of the first ‘Avatar’, it still looks great with the CGI once again top-notch and the score and further development of most characters, particularly their kids, is good. There’s a few new creatures, and while it’s long at 3 hours 15min, it was engaging and draws you back into the world of Pandora effortlessly. I just hope we get to see a resolution to the Navi vs human conflict at some point.

Overall: Great to see in IMAX & 3D in Melbourne

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars