Bury Your Dead

Film: Bury Your Dead (Enterre Seus Mortos)

Year: 2024

Director: Marco Dutra

Writer: Marco Dutra

Starring: Selton Mello, Marjorie Estiano and Danilo Grangheia

Review:

This was a film that I learned about thanks to Erika from Gold Dust PR. She sent over a press release about this film making its premiere on digital and VOD. Since this is a horror film that is getting widely released in 2026, I was intrigued to check it out. Outside of knowing that it was in the horror genre and from Brazil, I came in blind.

Synopsis: in an apocalyptic rural landscape, roadkill collector Edgar Wilson (Selton Mello) plans an escape with the love of his life, Nete (Marjorie Estiano), but suffers violent dreams. After she joins a cult, Edgar embarks on a perilous journey through ravaged roads to do right by her.

This synopsis does well in setting the stage. There is an interesting feeling for the world it is set in. There’s a bleak outlook. Now part of that is we’re in a rural community where they don’t have the resources to keep up with the different things that are needed. Characters allude to the fact that the apocalypse is on the brink. Children and animals are mysteriously dying. There’s also this cult that is brought up who have a procession in the streets at night.

An important early scene is with Edgar being called out to a car accident. A man was speeding along the highway and hit a horse. Edgar is here to put the animal out of its misery and to bring it back to the factory he works to turn it into fertilizer. The man in the accident is an astronaut who is late to a rocket launch that he’s supposed to be on. An interesting element to include here, randomly there will be an explosion and debris will rain down.

Now let me discuss a bit more about our lead character. Edgar is cold. The only time we see him opening is to his girlfriend, Nete. She works as a dispatcher who sends him to where he needs to collect roadkill. He works alongside an excommunicated priest, Tomás (Danilo Grangheia). He sees Edgar as his best friend, but it isn’t necessarily reciprocated. There’s an intriguing scene where Tomás wanted to share what led him to being excommunicated, but Edgar doesn’t care to hear.

Let’s then shift to discussing this cult. Nete lives with her Aunt Helena (Betty Faria) who is a member. There is also Rita (Maria Manoella), who is Nete’s sister. There is also this little girl, Mariana (Vittoria Seixas) who draws Nete even deeper into this cult. Something else to include is that Nete has a condition with her heart, it is enlarged.

Edgar is hoping that she will run away to the city together. This gets derailed when Nete joins the cult. She is hoping that it will sway Edgar to join. Things don’t play out that way. He spirals when he makes a grisly discovery one day. This leads him to forcing Tomás to join him on a journey. It culminates in the capital and a terrifying change that comes over Edgar when he finally snaps.

That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is by saying that I was quite intrigued to check out this film. I unfortunately have to say that it ultimately didn’t work as well as I would have liked. There are good things here. These elements kept me intrigued, but in the end, it had a lot going on and I did become lost. This has a runtime of over two hours and quite a bit of subplots that cause this to be muddled. Knowing that it is taking its story from a book, I would bet that longer form works better to flesh all the ideas out.

Now that I have this set up, let me start with what works. There is this uneasy feeling with the world that it is set in. From early on, we know the characters are worried about the approaching end of days. This gives power to this cult. Nete’s family members are susceptible and in turn, convince her to join. Edgar has big dreams. Even if it is just marrying Nete and them living out what time they have together. When something happens to her, it breaks him. It creates this drive to go on the journey that he does, changing where it ends for him.

While I prefer not to judge a film by my own expectations, more insight into the cult would have strengthened the narrative. Despite the surreal elements, the cult remains mysterious. Their recitation of an H.P. Lovecraft's mantra from The Call of Cthulhu—along with the unsettling characters Edgar and Tomás encounter later—suggests a wider influence. Ultimately, the imagery Edgar witnesses in the clouds provides an intriguing conclusion.

Something I haven’t included much about are the eco-horror elements. This is where I think a bit more would help as well. Animals are dying at an alarming rate. There is talk of this mysterious illness killing children. The landscapes are poisoned to the point where they’re a wasteland. The rockets leaving are showing that humanity has killed this planet and are looking to go elsewhere. Focusing on a micro look with the characters here is a good touch.

Then other themes that are explored would include the desensitization to horror and death. Edgar and Tomás collect roadkill. Nete is their dispatcher, but we’re seeing that what should be horrific, is just their normal, everyday. Since the thought is the world is going to end soon, that builds on it as well. There’s also an interesting look at faith. This cult seems like a desperate search for order in a world in chaos. Tomás being a former priest shows a collapse of the normal idea of faith. In the end, there is a resignation to the inevitability of the end, which is bleak.

As for the performances, Mello is effectively wooden, perfectly suiting his role as a silent observer. His character’s unraveling following Nete’s death anchored the film's second half. Estiano is strong as Edgar’s emotional anchor, while Grangheia is solid as his sidekick. Faria, Manoella, Seixas, and the supporting cast round out the ensemble.

As for the production, the cinematography and framing effectively capture the bleak landscape. Then for the effects, it appears that they used mostly practical. If there were CGI effects, they were well-executed. The sound design fits throughout, and I particularly appreciated the cover of My Heart Will Go On, a clever nod to Edgar’s favorite movie. In general, this is well-made.

In conclusion, this is a visually striking and well-acted film that feels slightly hampered by its own ambition. While the strong performances from Mello and the ensemble, paired with moody cinematography and atmospheric world-building, kept me engaged, the narrative ultimately becomes muddled by an overabundance of subplots and an excessive runtime. It is an intriguing, high-concept horror piece that tackles complex themes of faith and environmental collapse, but one that might have benefited from a tighter focus or more room to develop its most mysterious elements. Despite being uneven, it remains a thoughtful, albeit dense, exploration of a bleak, apocalyptic reality.

My Rating: 6.5 out of 10