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They Live in the Grey
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| Year: |
2022
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Director: |
Abel Vang, Burlee Vang
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| Stars: |
Michelle Krusiec, Ken Kirby, Madelyn Grace, Audrey Moore, Ellen Wroe, Mercedes Manning, Bernard Bullen, J.R. Garcia, Cami Storm, Ian Stanley, Naomi Matsuda, Patrick Hume, Krystle Martin, Kevin Indio Copeland, Paige Simons, Billy Khoury, Ray Julian Torres
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| Genre: |
Horror, Drama |
| Rating: |
  7 (from 1 vote) |
| Review: |
Claire Yang (Michelle Krusiec) is a social worker specialising in child abuse cases, but she has suffered a loss over the past while that has truly affected her, as her young son died, leading to the breakup of her marriage to her husband (Ken Kirby), who tried to be understanding but found she was beyond him. However, this new case Claire is working on is serving to focus her mind, since she suspects the little girl involved, Sophie (Madelyn Grace), is under a supernatural attack rather than a physical one from one or both of her parents. Claire is interested in this because she has experience of ghosts herself, indeed she is haunted practically every day by a rotating roster of apparitions, leaving her cowering in her closet retreat above the stairs...
If you were thinking, "So it's The 6th Sense, only the psychiatrist sees the ghosts?" from that description, you would not be too far off with They Live in the Grey. The difference was, for all M. Night Shyamalan's faults, he could conjure up something very glossy within his means, and this was far more prosaic in its look. But purposefully so, obviously it was an American movie so everyone lives in an absolutely massive house, but there had to be a contrast between the everyday, seemingly uncaring world that Claire existed in and the regular moments when reality flips and things get very weird. Those scenes were very well handled by the Vang Brothers, in a big step up from their previous film, the misfiring phone app horror Bedeviled.
They had more to get their teeth into with this screenplay, which they had written themselves, and the special effects that ranged from pop-up ghosts to spinning kitchen knives may not have been as restrained as the rest of it when they arrived, but they were neatly incorporated into the whole. It was yet another twenty-twenties horror movie about grief, which appeared to be the most important element in the genre's development this decade, understandably perhaps as death was on a lot of minds in the pandemic. You could tackle this as an examination of a coping mechanism to get you through the tough times, and in some places it resembled a sincere drama about the loss of a loved one, though there were more instances of it sailing straight over the top and embracing the potential of characters who see dead people.
Like many a psychological thriller, there was a twist to this which you may not see coming, or even may not register given the extended running time of over two hours which was somewhat excessive no matter how far they were emphasising the uneasy atmosphere. Obviously with the subject of parental child abuse there was a lot to be uneasy about, though Claire is sure she is onto something with her theory about the ghosts - she believes she is bonding with Sophie, despite appearances to the contrary - and begins to pursue that line at risk of her sanity, which thanks to her bereavement may not have been that sturdy in the first place. Meanwhile the authorities are breathing down her neck to get this resolved, and if necessary, get the little girl away from a damaging household, and all indications are that Claire is going to make the situation worse before she makes it better, if she can make it better at all. Fair enough, it was not original, but what it did with the pieces it had wove a certain spell that could be very compelling, thanks to the conviction in the performances. Music by David Williams.
[A Shudder Original
New Film Premieres 17th February 2022.]
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| Reviewer: |
Graeme Clark
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