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I'm going to use a word that I don't think I have ever used in describing a horror film before: HEARTBREAKING.
MAJOR SPOILERS LIE AHEAD!!
Yep, GRACE is a tough film to watch, not because its horribly done or a bad film but because the subject matter is so personal, so private that you almost feel like you are intruding on these characters lives and sharing their most horrible and heart wrenching nightmares come to life.
GRACE tells the tale of a young couple attempting to have a child. We meet Madeline and Michael literally while they are conceiving GRACE. The film opens with them making the two back monster and we quickly learn that Madeline is looking to forgo the standard hospital delivery and will instead head to a midwife clinic which is run by a trusted friend. Husband Michael is leery at first but after an emergency room visit where the doctors there almost induce labor to early without running the proper tests and midwife Patricia arrives just in time and in one of the most intense and well acted scenes in the film stops the procedure in the nick of time thus earning the trust of Michael.
On the way home from the hospital the couple are involved in a horrible traffic accident and Michael is killed and Madeline is in bad shape the worst thing being that the baby she is carrying is dead.
She decides to carry to term and let nature take its course. Not only is she dealing with the death of her husband but now she is carrying a child which she know is deceased. The midwife allows her to continue the pregnancy, given the circumstances and one day while at a baby store she bleeds out and passes out.
Again, we are lead into a scene that is so difficult to watch but so completely gripping that you can't look away. The acting by Jordan Ladd as Madeline is of an Acadamy Award level here, no shit, it really is.
Madeline gives birth to the stillborn child and it is so emotional so powerful that I dare any one of you to watch it and honestly tell me that it does not move you in some way. Powerful, powerful stuff.
This is where things start to take an odd turn. Madeline asks if she can hold the child and midwife Patricia kind of reluctenly agrees. She watches from another room via cam and when she feels things have gone on long enough she goes into to tell Madeline that she can't will the baby back to life only to discover that he has apparently done just that.
GRACE is alive and the horror is about to begin. It doesn't take long for Madeline to figure out that something is not quite right with her little GRACE. Flies seem to be attracted to her and she don't smell quite right but that is just the start of the strangeness. Seems she don't think much of breast milk, no she would much rather have BLOOD!
This of course sets off a series of events that you just know are not going to end well. I've already probably told you to much so I'm stopping here with the blow by blow.
Trust me on this one. Go pick it up and give it a twirl in the DVD player. It is a great little film. Director Paul Solet has crafted a tight little story that manages to move you emotionally and at the same time make you wince. The subject matter is touchy but Solet handles it with a deft hand and at no time wanders in to exploitative territory. He keeps the story focused on one womans tragedy and powerful bond between a mother and her child.
As far as special features go we are given a nice three part behind the scenes look at the film that is very informative and long enough to be worth watching while not being so self serving that you tune out after the first few minutes.
Here's a complete listing of the extras:
An AUDIO COMMENTARY track by writer/director, producer & director of photography
GRACE: Conception (6:46)
GRACE: Family (11:58)
HER MOTHER'S EYES: The look of Grace (7:03)
GRACE: Delivered (37:02)
LULLABY: Scoring Grace (8:55)
GRACE AT SUNDANCE (13:10)
Trailer (2:27)
GRACE is in the stores as we speak.
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