Grace

Directed by Paul Solet

Joining the (surprisingly long) list of evil baby horror films is Paul Solet’s Grace, a chilling and often disturbing picture with a great amount of imagination. From Rosemary’s Baby to It’s Alive, this particular sub-genre isn’t anything new in horror, but Grace does more for the genre than most give it credit. Similar to films like Teeth and May, Grace has a male director working behind the camera tackling on a number of woman’s issues – especially those revolving around the potential horrors of childbirth. As an undercurrent to all this insanity, Solet induces themes of lesbianism, old science vs. new science, veganism and animal cruelty, pushing its boundaries and delivering a powerful, provocative, smart, solid directorial debut.

Written and directed by apparent paedophobia sufferer Solet, Grace takes a less supernatural approach tack on the evil-child motif – so much so that it seems unfair to classify as under pure horror. This film adds another dimension to the trope and the decision to tell a story around the tragedy of losing a child allows Solet to push the envelope, something he doesn’t shy away from.

After losing two babies to miscarriages, Madeleine (Jordan Ladd) has become ultra cautious with her latest pregnancy. After extensive research – and against her mother in law’s wishes – she decides to give birth underwater with the assistance of a midwife. Unfortunately, adding to her streak of bad luck, she is involved in a car accident, leading to the death of her unborn baby. To everyone’s surprise, she makes the unexpected decision to go ahead and carry the child to term, only when she does, the baby is born alive. At first, baby Grace seems healthy and normal, but Madeline quickly realizes everything isn’t what it seems.

Based on his 2006 short film of the same name, Grace is blessed with detailed direction, with patience and subtlety that demonstrate the director’s skill. His ability to handle such complex subject matter displays Solet’s maturity in crafting the mother-child relationship. How far will a mother go to feed her baby? Solet also doesn’t follow recent genre trends by adding cheap scares but rather he relies on strong character-driven dramatic approach.

Solet slowly spins a web of complicated female roles who all try to win over their loved ones in their own twisted ways. Jordan Ladd (Cabin Fever, Death Proof) keeps the film rooted in a dark reality and her actions, indicative of fear, lead her slowly into seclusion, hiding her baby away from society. Gabrielle Rose plays the overbearing grandmother who’s obsessed with gaining custody of her grandchild. As she struggles with the loss of her son and her inability to see her granddaughter, she decides to do everything in her power to get Grace back.

The film works on many different levels and can be accessible to both genre fans as well as those who normally wouldn’t watch horror films. Grace is not a particularly graphic film, but there are quite a few moments that will leave viewers both anxious and squeamish. The well paced score, which is beautifully composed by Austin Wintory, helps to crank up the tension. Wintory knows when to keep things quiet and when to ramp it up while the lavish cinematography and considered blocking aids to the growing anticipation from the audience that something is about to go wrong.

Grace is not a perfect film and suffers from its last fifteen minutes (clearly scripted in hopes for a sequel) but like childbirth, the film is messy, bloody and memorable.

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