Raging Grace

All Joy (Max Eigenmann) wants is to make ends meet and provide for her mischievous daughter each passing day, but her circumstances as an undocumented Filipina immigrant mean she is often overlooked and spoken down to. Taking any work she can get, Joy takes a job as a housekeeper for a terminally ill man in a lavish country home. But nothing is as it seems. Soon, she and her daughter become engulfed in a family secret that threatens their safety and jeopardises the life that Joy has worked so hard to build.

Raging Grace is a mix of horror and psychological thriller that is meshed together with poignant social commentary on exploitation that resonates throughout. British-born Filipino writer-director Paris Zarcilla uses this debut feature to provide on-the-nose, almost satirical references to the state of the UK immigration system and the levels of power in society but still maintains the characters’ complexities in the process.

It is a small cast, but each role has a story. We are exposed to such attitudes toward immigrants early on through Katherine (Leanne Best), carer and current occupier of the house. On the face of it, she is a vile stereotype, and while it doesn’t excuse her early approaches and interactions towards Joy, she has her own hidden traumas from the past. Joy has her own secret too, one that isn’t revealed until later in the film against her own will. The wonderful Eigenmann brings depth and stoicism to the character, ensuring that Joy is not a helpless victim of her circumstances, in fact making her more powerful for it. Likewise, the enigmatic duo of Katherine and Mr Garrett (David Hayman) make endearing villains, made all the more enthralling when the plot twists start arriving. 

Raging Grace is a super-sensory experience, albeit the horror element takes a while to kick in. The movie does begin to lose its way as it reaches its third act and the characters’ allegiances go askew. While this adds to the rollercoaster visual experience and lets the viewer stand in Joy’s shoes, it does leave you wishing that it would fully commit itself to one genre so it can reach a tantalising climax, but that never really materialises.

This lack of definitive tone means the movie complicates itself and the viewer is never fully gripped by the drama. Cinematographer Joel Honeywell uses the foreboding country house to great effect, planting a sense of doom and suspense around every corner, but any real jump scares fall fairly flat. In fact, Raging Grace leaves any sense of thrill at the door, worrying more about whether a hiding Grace will be discovered by an unknowing Katherine than any greater feeling of adventure.

Guy Lambert

Raging Grace is released in select cinemas on 29^th December 2023.

Watch the trailer for Raging Grace here: