Director: Abel Vang, Burlee Vang
Writer: Abel Vang, Burlee Vang
Starring: ‎Michelle Krusiec, Ken Kirby, Madelyn Grace
Year: 2022
Duration: 121 mins
Country: US
BBFC Certification: 18
Horror and Drama are two genres that don’t often find themselves as bedfellows, yet when they do, as in Nicholas Roeg’s haunting masterpiece Don’t Look Now or Ari Aster’s exceedingly malevolent Hereditary, the results can often be spectacular. They Live in the Grey, a Shudder exclusive released later this month, attempts a similar fusion of slow burning, adult drama and creeping horror, but can it scale the heights of the two aforementioned classics?
They Live in the Grey, directed by The Vang Brothers, certainly doesn’t pull any punches. Opening with an attempted suicide, this is a film that, much like Don’t Look Now and Hereditary, examines the dark aftermath of devastating grief, where lives and relationships are so shattered by loss they feel almost impossible to put back together.
At the centre of They Live in the Grey is Claire Yang (Michelle Krusiec), a case worker for Child Protective Services, who is suffering from severe depression after the death of her ten year old son. Estranged from her husband Peter (Ken Kirby), Claire lives alone in a house that is slowly falling into disrepair. Yet devastating grief isn’t all Claire has to contend with; she has a unique gift that allows her to see dead people, who randomly accost and terrify her to such a degree she has, literally, begun sleeping under the stairs.
Yet Claire cannot hope to hide or ignore her ‘gifts’ for long. Handed a brand new case centring on troubled ten year old Sophie Lang (Madelyn Grace) she initially believes that Sophie’s strange bruises and injuries may the result of abusive parents, yet events within Sophie’s house soon lead Claire to believe that something more supernatural may be to blame…
Taking a strong leaf out of The Sixth Sense’s book, They Live in the Grey mixes the sudden, jolting rug pulls of M. Night Shyamalan’s 90s classic with something altogether slower and more detached. The Vang Brothers (who wrote the script as well as directing) are certainly in no rush to get to the heart of their story, instead slowly and steadily peeling back the layers of mystery and grief that surrounds both the central characters and the spirit tormenting Sophie.
Initially, if you are willing to adjust to the film’s rather stately pace, They Live in the Grey boldly succeeds during its opening sections. A melancholy atmosphere contributes to a gradually building sense of unease, while the early ghost encounters are suitably unnerving. This is all anchored by a brilliantly sensitive and understated performance by Michelle Krusiec, who deals with the duel challenges of having to convey internal anguish and external terror with grace and skill.
Unfortunately, however, the longer the film goes on, the more things begin to fall slowly but steadily apart. The Vang Brothers seem far more interested in exploring Claire’s backstory and her grief than they are with delving into the mystery behind her child protection case. This ultimately leads to a film that feels disjointed and leaden, where too much time is given to underwritten, dull scenes detailing Claire’s past with Peter, leaving the ‘main’ plot languishing almost as an afterthought.
This same unbalance also bleeds into how They Live in the Grey is shot. At times utilising high and wide angles to establish an effective sense of disassociation and unease, this stylish cinematography is than squandered by other scenes where nothing but a wide shot is used; here the effect is merely a tedious sense of detachment as opposed to anything more meaningful or profound.
By the time a third act revelation rolls around, plot holes abound, derailing any sense of surprise (lets just say that the more you think about it, the more illogical and confused everything feels). Which is a damn shame, as They Live in the Grey really did try and do something interesting, mature and different.
Horror fans many get some kicks due to some admittedly creepy and successful scares and Michelle Krusiec’s performance is genuinely brilliant. Yet ultimately They Live in the Grey fails to live up to its potential due to numerous logic breaking plot holes and a patience testing structure that fails to get the balance right between the scares and the drama.
Film:
They Live in the Grey is will be available to download and keep from the 19th September, while a DVD will be available to purchase from the 26th September.
I received a copy of the DVD for this review. They Live in the Grey is a film filled with lots of dark, shadowy interiors, scenes that DVD as a format cannot handle all that well. Therefore there are several instances of macro blocking and blooming throughout the film’s darker moments. This is really something that would have benefitted from a Blu Ray release and a stronger encode. The only extra is a behind the scenes photo gallery.