Grace (2009) Reviews

• Bizarrely Quirky, Uber-Creepy and Definitely Old-School Film-Making, but With an Extremely Dark Fresh Twist!

  KissEnglishPasto2016-07-28

  ........................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, Colombia...and ORLANDO, FL TO MOM....These are the last words to appear on the screen after end credits for GRACE. (You see, sometimes it pays to watch the credits to the very end!) Now if GRACE had been MY baby, (We're speaking metaphorically here, of course!) The absolute LAST person on earth I would have dedicated it to would have been MY MOM! Well, that is unless my goal were getting her to disown me! Bizarrely quirky, Uber-creepy and I would say, definitely old-school film- making, but with an extremely dark fresh twist. The psychological equivalent of walking on eggshells inside your brain while running jagged fingernails across your mind's blackboard ...And it's a Canadian flick! Reviews here abound with Film "A" meets Movie "B" examples. Here is my take to try a give you sense of the GRACE's impact: Director Paul Solet, at heart, is a Hitchcock wannabe of the Horror/Psychological Thriller genre. He has also been greatly influenced by classics like ROSEMARY'S BABY, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE and near-Cult Classics like IT'S ALIVE! His D.O.B. doesn't appear anywhere I could find, but since he received B.A. degrees from Emerson college in 2002 in, get this now: FILM and PSYCHOLOGY, I doubt he's over mid-30's! BTW, he also is credited for the screenplay on GRACE! We will be hearing a lot more about Paul Solet in the future! GRACE really gets in your brain, with that imminent sense that something dreadful and/or horrific is going to happen any second...but for the most part, it doesn't. I know there are a lot of you who flat out reject that in a movie. You'd probably be better off passing on GRACE in that case. 8*....ENJOY/DISFRUTELA! Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en Español, are most welcome!

• Not Without My Bloodthirsty Daughter…

  Coventry2009-04-21

  "Grace", the long feature debut of writer/director Paul Solet, is an oddly unsettling but refreshingly inventive horror-drama hybrid that can't possibly be categorized into one single genre. This film is deeply disturbing, emotionally moving, darkly comical and intellectually engaging all at the same time and that is quite a remarkable thing to achieve for a young director who only shot a few short movies before, is it not? "Grace" literally baths in an unclassifiable grisly atmosphere, the detailed character drawings are unique and plausible and the concept – although rationally impossible – is nightmarishly upsetting. The announcer at the Belgian Fantasy Festival, where I watched this movie, advised for couples with young children and particularly pregnant women to leave the theater and that was definitely a good move (not that there were many), as this instant gem covers pretty much all the imaginable horrors of motherhood, like troublesome conception, intrusive mother-in-laws, alternate delivery methods, loss of husband and – worst of all – a still born baby. Madeline doesn't really care about too much except for the 7-months-old fetus in her wombs and bringing it into this world in an old-fashioned and natural way, with a traditional midwife and vitamins instead of a hospital doctors and anesthetics. When the baby stops moving after a tragic car accident, in which also her docile husband dies, Madeline is nevertheless determined to give birth when the time is due. The baby, Grace, miraculously comes out of the womb alive and seemingly healthy, but soon after Madeline's biggest ordeal comes to the surface. Grace needs blood instead of breast milk and, the devoted mother she is, Madeline does everything within her power to provide this. Meanwhile, mother-in-law Vivian tries to do everything to obtain guardianship over Grace as she's convinced Madeline is mentally incapable of nursing her granddaughter. The sequences where Madeline "sacrifices" her own health in order to feed her eccentric baby girl are simultaneously disruptive and affectionate. This is a peculiar combination of sentiment that we're really not used to witnessing in the horror genre, but it's extremely compelling to say the least. Also the sub plot involving the aging Vivian rediscovering her femininity is disturbing, but in a totally and never before experienced fashion. "Grace" contains multiple shocking moments and grueling images, especially near the end, but the violence or bloodshed is never at one point exploitative or tasteless. So, cult loving horror fans please don't start thinking this is a modern update of Larry Cohen's early 70's crazed killer baby flick "It's Alive" or you risk feeling very much ripped off. This is an often uncomfortably slow-paced and intriguing psychological drama/thriller, with stylish photography and hypnotizing acting performances. Jordan Ladd is amazing as Madeline and this was probably the first film set where she could demonstrate her talented acting capacities, because until now I only saw her in lighter horror stuff like "Death Proof" and "Club Dread". Ladd also receives superb support from Gabrielle Rose as Vivian (truly a courageous performance) and Samantha Ferris as the alternative midwife. "Grace" honestly is a movie you won't forget about easily, that is one guarantee I can give you.

• Unique, weird, slow moving.

  PeachyPies2009-08-15

  The movie "Grace" is a disturbing one. The plot of the story is that a woman, Madeline (Jordan Ladd) and her husband, Michael (Stephen Park), have been trying to conceive unsuccessfully. They have been pregnant twice before, but she had miscarriages. This time they have been successful and everything seems completely fine. Everything is completely fine until there is a crash which is the result of the car airbag flying open at the complete wrong time. This accident, results in the death of Madeline's husband (which she seems completely unbothered about) and her unborn child. She decides to keep the baby inside her for the term, until finally she gives birth to a stillborn. It is quite a sad scene when the child is finally born and is not responding to anything. She sits with it begging for it not to leave her. The midwife, (who is a long term friend of Madeline) tells her she can't just wish for her baby to be alive. Whilst she is saying this sentence, the baby of course comes back to life and Madeline introduces baby Grace to the audience. Everything seems fine until Grace decides she doesn't like milk but has a thirst for blood, which is ironic knowing her mother is a vegan. Madeline tries to provide Grace with blood as much as she can either by purchasing fresh cow's meat or enduring the pain herself. This would be fine and life would go on, if it wasn't for her interfering mother-in-law, Vivian (Gabrielle Rose), and her doctor, Richard (Malcolm Stewart). Vivian interferes because she has a disturbing fetish to breast feed and Richard interferes because he has a disturbing habit to drink breast milk. Together they try to take baby Grace away from Madeline. This film is not your typical horror film. It isn't scary, it doesn't make you jump and it doesn't get your adrenaline pumping. It's the opposite. It is very slow moving and not very exciting in the slightest. The only thing that keeps you hooked into the film is the fact that it is so very wrong. Another thing that makes the film so wrong is the ability to make you feel sorry for mother and child. This baby is feeding off blood and the mother will do anything to allow it. However awful this may be, the mother is so desperate to have a child and she still loves it unconditionally and therefore the audience feels the need to understand that what Madeline is doing for the child is completely acceptable. This movie is different. It won't win any Oscars for acting, directing, cinematography or even special effects (baby Grace, at times, seems scarily weird, watch out for the close ups of the mouth), but it is a good film to watch if you want something unique. However, don't begin to watch the movie expecting anything special. If you take it one step at a time it will be enjoyable. The ending of the film (and I will say this, hopefully, without giving anything away), is possibly one of the strangest things I have ever seen. The last line and one of the last images with give you a "wtf, this is wrong," moment. Overall, the concept of this film is different. It is a slow paced film, but isn't entirely boring. It comes under the category of horror, but isn't scary. It is more chilling. If you want something different to the blockbusters, watch it. If not, then don't.

• Refreshing and Disturbing Low-Budget Horror Movie

  claudio_carvalho2010-02-11

  Madeline Matheson (Jordan Ladd) has unsuccessfully been trying to get pregnant with her husband Michael (Stephen Park). When she finally succeeds, she decides to be assisted by the midwife Patricia Lang (Samantha Ferris) despite the insistence of her snoopy mother-in-law Vivian (Gabrielle Rose) that wants the family obstetrician Dr. Richard Sohn (Malcolm Stewart) instead. When Michael and Madeline have a car accident, Michael and the unborn baby die; however, Madeleine insists on carrying out the pregnancy. Patricia accepts her request to pretend stillbirth. However, the baby Grace is miraculously delivered and sooner Madeleine discovers that Grace needs to be fed with human blood. "Grace" is a refreshing and disturbing low-budget horror movie. The dramatic story is certainly unpleasant and not recommended for pregnant women, but the director and writer Paul Solet has created a totally different story with touches of black-humor. The slow-pace might be the cause for the unfair review in IMDb. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "O Mistério de Grace" ("The Mystery of Grace")

• What did we learn from this movie?

  dschmeding2009-08-16

  After looking into the director of "Grace" I found that this movie is obviously based on a short movie he did 3 years before. And that is more explanation than I needed because basically this movie has nothing but the premise you already get in the synopsis. Woman tries to get pregnant, then loses her child in a car-crash, still brings it to birth and miraculously the baby lives. Of course the baby was dead and so its now a kind of undead baby that needs blood instead of breast milk. The whole movie is sloooow paced and tries to be edgy and have a kind of black humor (for example the woman is a vegan and pretty obsessed with healthy food etc.) but it leads nowhere. For a horror movie this is damn boring, for a psychological movie I miss any depth. It looks like the director just has the two odd ideas of the undead baby attracting a lot of flies and chewing on its mothers bloodied breasts. Apart from that I don't see much here. At first the strange calm atmosphere of the movie really captures you but about half through the movie you realize that "Grace" indeed is nothing but a short-story stretched to feature length. After all a real big disappointment.