MOVIE INFO VIA ROTTEN TOMATOES:
Joy (Max Eigenmann) is an undocumented Filipino immigrant struggling to do the best she can to support her daughter, Grace (Jaeden Boadilla). Soon she secures the perfect job: taking care of an extremely wealthy but terminal old man. The new position pays well and guarantees a roof over their heads, but very soon, Joy and Grace start to realize everything is not as it seems. Something is festering beneath the surface, threatening all they have worked for.
REVIEW:
Raging Grace does a god job of keeping the audience off balanced. The debut director, Paris Zarcilla does a nice job of juicing horror conventions with some social commentary.
Joy (Max Eeigenmann) is a single undocumented Filipino mom who lives in London, and who works as a housekeeper for mostly rich folks. She is trying to save enough money to buy a gray market visa for both herself and her mischievous daughter, Grace (Jaeden Paige Boadilla). Joy stoically accepts the demeaning verbal abuse, financial exploitation, and condescension of her white employers. She’s also saving for a house and sees the present as a temporary inconvenience for her future happiness. She’s an anxious mom trying to do the right thing and sees pride as an luxury the two can’t afford. She finds employment with Katherine (Leanne Best), a woman living in a shuttered house and taking care of her bedridden Uncle Garrett (David Hayman) who has terminal cancer.
A few jump scares, nightmares and apparitions later the banal evil motivations start developing into some eloquent and gothic plot twists. It’s all intertwined with true tales of British Colonial exploitation in the Philippines that goes back centuries.
Eigenmann and Bodilla generate considerable mother-daughter chemistry. Eigenmann is good at depicting Joy’s desperation, resilience, her willpower needed for an intelligent person like herself to maintain the façade of unthreatening and meek subservience. Her scenes with Bodilla ring true. The rest of the cast has enough British stage and film experience to subvert expectations and generate some nasty character twists. It’s at times lunatic but always fun and engrossing.
Raging Grace gets a 3.5/5 or a B+. It’s streaming on Paramount Plus with Showtime.
CREDITS:
Directed by
Paris Zarcilla
Produced by
- Chi Thai
- Darlene
- Catly Malimas
Cinematography
Joel Honeywell
Edited by
Christopher C.F. Chow
Music
byJon Clarke
Production
company
Last Conker
Release dates
- 12 March 2023(SXSW)
- 29 December 2023(United Kingdom)
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