'We Bury the Dead' says a lot about the living

Regret, frustration, guilt, desperation and the need for closure.

Not quite the words one would expect to use when describing a film initially thought to be an apocalyptic zombie horror film, and yet, those are the first words that pop into the mind when credits roll after watching "We Bury the Dead."

It had its spooky moments, and sure, a little bit of zombie-chasing-the-living action, but "We Bury the Dead" isn't quite what it appears to be, or, at least, what its marketing team wanted audiences to think it would be.

Released in theaters Jan. 2 and now streaming on Prime, the R-rated "We Bury the Dead" is a tale of separation and devastation as Ava (Daisy Ridley) travels to find her husband, Mitch (Matt Whelan), in the wake of horrific catastrophe that instantly decimates hundreds of thousands of people when America detonates an experimental weapon off the coast of Tasmania, where Mitch was attending a work retreat. It's obvious something went down between the couple before they parted ways, as Ava's flashbacks to their wedding and past life together offer more painful memories than sweet reminiscences.

Ava meets Clay (Brenton Thwaites), who also seems to have something dark in his past pressing him forward and propelling his reckless behaviors. The two team up as part of a volunteer body retrieval unit, tasked with going into people's homes to identify and remove those who died during the incident.

One catch: Some of the deceased come "back online." Only some. No one knows why or how.

This is where the story forks. For longtime fans of zombie/infected franchises such as "28 Days Later," "The Walking Dead" and survival horror video games such as "Resident Evil" and "Silent Hill," jump scares are expected in this kind of environment, but they're fairly sparse in "We Bury the Dead:" "OK there's gotta be something around this corner." "OK maybe the next corner." "Oh I bet something's lurking in here ... OK maybe not." When the first encounter takes place, it is certainly creepy and disturbing, but not quite the shock horror fans enjoy.

Some great psychological and supernatural haunts take time to build while zombie flicks tend to range from the slow burns to fast-paced frenzies and hordes of infected. The most exciting parts of this movie — and guessing it's just a few minutes — are in the film's somewhat misleading trailers. Yes, zombies pop up here and there, but the film is not so much about fearing the walking dead as it is the monsters found in bereft strangers, betrayed spouses, irresponsible government and within oneself. The devastation of loss experienced by the characters is cruel and frankly uncomfortable at times, and some weird choices are made toward the end of the movie. However, the film is beautifully shot. And the teeth-gnashing sound effects and undead makeup are extremely unsettling, so horror points there.

"We Bury the Dead" is tagged as a "zombie survival horror thriller film" or a "drama horror." It definitely leans more toward drama. The protagonist seems more concerned with wedding photos on a stranger's wall than the terror of bumping into said stranger in a posthumous situation.

Just go into it knowing it forces viewers into introspection much more than into hiding under the bedcovers.