Grace (2009) Film review

Written and directed by Paul Solet (and dedicated to his mother, which only makes it creepier), starring Jordan Lad as Madeline Matheson, Stephen Park as Michael Matheson, Samantha Ferris as Patricia Lang and Gabrielle Rose as Vivian Matheson (mother of Michael).

This won't be for everyone. Slow of pace and going for the disturbing rather than shock and grotesque, it succeeds where others can only dream of attempting. The plot: Madeline Matheson is pregnant after two failed attempts, and has chosen to go to a midwife (Patricia Lang) who has had some kind of prior relationship with her, possibly a lesbian affair. Mother Matheson dislikes and distrusts anything not attached to a clean, white hospital, and goes out of her way to undermine every choice Madeline makes. There is a horrific car accident, Micheal dies, and her unborn child is declared dead in utero. Madeline decides to carry the dead child to term, and on birthing her (Grace, the title character of the film), holds the body and wills it to life. From there, everything turns sideways.

The film industry as a whole tends to shy away from showing strong willed women, and here all of the female characters are stronger than the men. This does not mean that the women are perfect, in fact they are all deeply wounded by their own decisions and pasts. As this thing progresses, the characters are all displayed, warts and all, and therein lies it greatest strength. There is a villain of sorts in the mother, but once the film shows her as both hateful and controlling, it then shows the agony of losing a child.

There are two intimate moments of sexuality shown in the film. At the opening, Michael and Madeline are shown trying to conceive. Madeline is totally removed from the sex, staring at the ceiling, no emotional response, and Michael is merely the donor. This chilling effect drains any type of erotica that may have otherwise been used to draw us in, and sets the tone for the rest of the film.

The other is when Vivian is shown slipping into her husbands bed. In an earlier scene, Serge Houde as Henry Matheson (father of Michael) is trying to comfort his wife, and she declares (note this) his (not theirs, but his) room is a pigsty, indicating a sock on the bed. When she later slips into his bed, reaching beneath the covers to arouse and waken him, I had a happy moment: Hurrah for the geriatric brigade! Still gettin' busy at that age, and when they start to make love, the scene takes a sudden shift, and it goes from a potentially erotic scene to a deeply disturbing display of just how nuts mother has become.

There is blood, and blood aplenty, but that is merely an underscoring of what the film is doing. Approach with a certain level of caution: as stated earlier, it is not for everyone.

There are a few plot holes, and a number of times when the limited budget shows through, but the overall effect is not unlike that of 8MM or Hard Candy. Creepy, disturbing and ugly, in all of the ways most films, again, only wish they could be when approaching distasteful topics.