Writer/Director Paris Zarcilla’s feature debut, Raging Grace joins films like His House and No One Gets Out Alive in examining the horrors of immigration from within the walls of a haunted house. Instead of ghosts from the past or creatures, though, Zarcilla spins a taut tale of gothic horror combined with personal drama that sets it apart. The focus on its characters means a slower-coiling horror story, but one that surprises with unexpected detours.
Joy (Max Eigenmann) lives in London as an undocumented Filipina immigrant. Housecleaning is the only work she can successfully find as a single mom to feisty young daughter Grace (Jaeden Paige Boadilla). To save up enough money to obtain a Visa, Joy sets her sights on affluent clients. It leads her to the sprawling estate of Mr. Garrett (David Hayman), an older man slowly succumbing to cancer. Joy’s hired by Mr. Garrett’s callous niece Katherine (Leanne Best), who doles out strict rules and orders while not away on travel. Making matters even more stressful for Joy’s new live-in job is that her employers don’t know Grace exists. While the large mansion offers easy spots for Grace to hide from its unsuspecting owners, the child’s curiosity grows out of control, leading to surprising and terrifying revelations about the place.
Zarcilla establishes an oppressive claustrophobic atmosphere from nearly the moment mom and daughter step into the gothic manor. While production designer Amy Beth Addison and cinematographer Joel Honeywell capture a perfect Gothic horror vibe through shadowed corridors and cobweb-draped, dark décor, much of the early claustrophobia stems from character interactions. It’s not the estate’s haunted look that keeps Joy on edge but evading the watchful eye of Katherine or the unsettling, unconscious state of Mr. Garrett as Grace grows more stir-crazy.
The gothic horror falls to the background as Raging Grace’s performances take center stage. Eigenmann earns easy audience empathy as the single mother with frayed nerves from an increasingly erratic child and unkind employers. Best nails Katherine’s sneering condescension, while Boadilla impresses for deftly toggling between childlike naivete and furious defiance. Hayman, who previously chilled as the central villain in Bull, does eventually enter the equation more overtly, bringing an appropriate level of menace.
It’s the twisting arcs of its antagonists that keep Raging Grace so engaging, and it’s what anchors the shifting subgenres of horror that Zarcilla employs. Gothic horror quickly veers into drama, then back again as it injects jump scares, a moody atmosphere, and a bit of supernatural to balance the reality-based terrors of Joy’s plight. Not all of it works, as some of the tonal shifts can be jarring, and the more overt horror elements can be sparse.
Paris Zarcilla’s debut is carried by the strength of its cultural specificity, perspective, and lead performers. Zarcilla wrings palpable tension from encounters and succeeds in keeping viewers on their toes through surprising revelations and the inclusion of an unpredictable child. Raging Grace is billed as a “coming-of-rage” tale, and on that, it delivers. Zarcilla’s debut makes for a fascinating horror experiment, but it’s in the deeply personal story and perspective where it shines brightest.
Raging Grace screened at FrightFest after winning the 2023 SXSW Narrative Feature Competition earlier this year. Release TBA.
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