Dir. Abel & Vurlee Vang | Now Streaming On: Shudder | Rating: 3/5

Death is an element of so many horror stories, often in a heavy handed way. What is handled so infrequently in the genre is something many people would say is more distressing than death – the act of grieving and coping with loss. Because what is the horror genre if not a way we all cope with the reality of our own mortality? In this vein, The Live in the Grey is a poignant commentary on the weight the living carry after we lose someone we love. ⁠
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Consider They Live in the Grey as The Babadook’s distant, more artistic cousin, since both films deal with this idea of grief as it relates to children. Where Grey’s Claire differs from Babadook’s Amelia, is that Claire loses her son, not her husband, but the ripples of grief still touch every facet of her life. For someone without children, the subject matter of this film probably doesn’t hit me as hard as it would for other audiences. For viewers like me, the Vangs rely on an artful and calculated tension building that implodes into horrible and often gruesome expressions of grief. ⁠
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The otherworldly feel of this film also gets in its own way, as it begins to trail off in its last act. We stumble to a reveal of the fate of Claire’s son that should’ve been given a bit more space in the storyline. With a few cliches and weak performances from the child actors, not every element of this film lands – but what we’re left with is still a story so rarely told in the genre. ⁠
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Know Before You Watch: Features blood, gore, discussions of death and suicide. ⁠