Raging Grace

Grand Jury Award, 2023 SXSW Film Festival
Audience Award (international competition) and International Critics Award, 2023 Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival

Undocumented Filipino caregiver Joy finds the perfect job taking care of a bedridden, terminally ill old man in a luxurious London house while hiding her mischievous daughter Grace. But behind perfection lurks vengeance, rage, and a sinister grotesquerie of unburied imperialism. As a dark discovery threatens to unravel everything Joy has strived for, RAGING GRACE becomes a microcosm of the larger socio-political landscape, where the vulnerable are exploited and justice often remains elusive.

Combining elements of Jordan Peele and Alfred Hitchcock, RAGING GRACE’s monsters take the form of affluent individuals and heirs of colonial legacies, and the true horror lies in the harsh realities faced by undocumented immigrants looking for opportunities far from home to support their families. Directed with a deft hand by Paris Zarcilla, RAGING GRACE peels back the layers of a system that often remains hidden in the shadows while preserving the tension of a classic suspense and horror film. Played with delicate emotion by award-winning actress Max Eigenmann, Joy embodies the resilience that countless immigrants bring to a land of opportunity, only to discover the infernal reality of unremitting servitude.

Without resorting to heavy-handed polemics, RAGING GRACE is a carefully paced, piercing reflection on the cost of hope and the price of grace in a complex world. Joy’s story serves as a chilling reminder of the ghosts that haunt the Philippines’ past, and a spine-tingling foray into the Gothic unknown.

– Carmela Prudencio

Co-presented by Asian Solidarity Collective.

Preceded By

Nian

Directed by Michelle Krusiec

Show-and-tell turns to horror when a young girl faces her bully with a Chinese mask of a mythological demon that eats bad kids.