Grace (2009)

"Grace" lives up to it's title as a sophisticated, subtle and intelligently twisted exercise which relies on the power of it's central idea completely and runs with it to it's logical conclusion. The filmmakers do everything to allow the theme to operate in stark contrast to reality.

The synopsis is clearly stated online so I won't reveal anything else. What I found surprising is the manner in which familiar cultural visuals and themes surrounding babies, birth and motherhood are in several instances smartly dissected and explored. Visuals which have been reduced to kitsch by marketing are stared-at through the film's ghastly filter. When the film works it plays with our sacred assumptions surrounding babies in film - it makes us squirm by employing our stock-responses to images of diapers, baby-baths, mommies breast-feeding, babies crying, a mother straining to give birth, etc., then re-frames those visuals in a delicately shocking manner. It's simple, but thanks to the writing, performances and execution of the film, it comes across as brilliantly diabolical.

The relational sub-plots in the story seem to be somewhat grafted-on, as if to address a need to increase character depth, but in these cases the direction is still effective and performances are sound. As a debut feature, there is little here to be impatient with. In a genre which too easily becomes a gore-circus/blast-fright parody of itself, calculated restraint and economy are a very welcome.

While the film has flaws, the parts which work do so with such confidence that it argues eloquently for leniency, as well as building an eager anticipation for the director's future work.

Highly recommended.

Fmovies: Hey everyone. I generally do not do movie reviews online - I have more things to do with my time, but I felt challenged to do one for 'Grace' as I felt that the films is poorly represented here on IMDb.

Some of the more recent horror films that have been coming out of the United States have been absolute garbage, I won't list titles because that's unfair - but I WILL say that the Americans have a very bad habit of remaking already excellent foreign horror films, and making a complete mess of it! This film was original - sure, it was FAR from perfect, but for an American horror film - it was far superior to the massive amount of slop coming out of that country right now. GIVE IT A BREAK!

A young couple Michael and Madeline are having their first baby.Unfortunately very tragic car accident results in death of Michael.Medical exam reveals that their baby has died as well.A devastated Madeline decides to carry the baby to term.And Grace is born.She who is thirsty for blood instead of milk."Grace" by Paul Solet is an unsettling horror film with excellent central performance of Jordan Ladd.Madeline is an overprotective parent who will kill and destroy life for her vampire baby.Her maternal devotion is almost psychopathic.The atmosphere of creeping dread is well-developed in "Grace".There is a bit of disgusting gore and a lot of suffering.Pretty bleak and sad horror film that is not for the easily offended.8 cribs out of 10.

Grace fmovies. I was really looking forward to this movie. The horror site fangoria really gave this movie great reviews and even dared to say it was a great horror movie. I again really went out of my way to see this great movie which was suppose to be ground breaking horror and oh boy was this a piece of horror scifi channel trash!!! The concept was pretty good, car accident, baby dies and yet at birth the baby is alive. Sounds interesting right!!! Well thats pretty much it because after that the movie goes downhill. It goes from a still birth baby to a crying baby and then you get an hour and ten minutes of asking yourself how and why is this going on with this baby. Did I miss anything within the movie that I'm left wondering what i just saw and why is that happening. This is a movie which will leave u running in a circle and yet the ending makes things much worst and adds no closure other then expecting a sequel to try to understand this movie. Do yourself a favor if your reading this review and take my word please. Skip this movie and save yourself the time and read a book or color a picture because this movie is just that bad.

I can see why people would not like this movie. First of all, Paul Solet is making satire and horror of something that people hold sacred. The very love of a mother. This is embodied by two characters. The protagonist mother Madeline Matheson (Jordan Ladd) and her mother-in-law Vivian Matheson (Gabrielle Rose).

The movie starts with a soft-core sex scene in which Madeline seem extremely bored. We soon find out she's lesbian, so it is implied she did only get a husband to get pregnant. This is also implied by her lack of care when her husband dies. The scene where Madeline for over two minutes hugs and kisses what looks to be a baby corpse was disturbing. Later on in the movie she proves that she loves her baby no matter what.

After Vivian loses her son,Madeline's husband Michael (Stephen Park) in the car accident she becomes desperate to get hold of the baby, as she does not trust in Madeline's being-mother knowledge. She shows disturbing behavior, wanting her husband to breastfeed on her, seemingly because she wants to have a child, and probably can't have one because her biological clock has run out.

Overall this is a pretty decent horror though. It has a very disturbing atmosphere to it, probably at the cost of pace. It has some moments I felt a little ill (in a good way), because of the mood and atmosphere. The dialogs were cheap. The characters were overall a little boring. Madeline was luckily the most interesting and best played character. Vivian was overplayed by Gabrielle Rose. I didn't get a grip of the husband, nothing was lost to the audience when he died. But the thing is, cheap dialogs and poorly developed characters is not uncommon in the horror genre, as I said the movie is pretty decent.

I recommend this movie to everyone who likes the trailer, and are not bothered by a slow pace. The trailer is pretty much, what you see is what you get.

Madeline Matheson (Jordan Ladd) has unsuccessfully been trying to get pregnant with her husband Michael (Stephen Park). When she finally succeeds, she decides to be assisted by the midwife Patricia Lang (Samantha Ferris) despite the insistence of her snoopy mother-in-law Vivian (Gabrielle Rose) that wants the family obstetrician Dr. Richard Sohn (Malcolm Stewart) instead. When Michael and Madeline have a car accident, Michael and the unborn baby die; however, Madeleine insists on carrying out the pregnancy. Patricia accepts her request to pretend stillbirth. However, the baby Grace is miraculously delivered and sooner Madeleine discovers that Grace needs to be fed with human blood.

"Grace" is a refreshing and disturbing low-budget horror movie. The dramatic story is certainly unpleasant and not recommended for pregnant women, but the director and writer Paul Solet has created a totally different story with touches of black-humor. The slow-pace might be the cause for the unfair review in IMDb. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Mistério de Grace" ("The Mystery of Grace")