Raging Grace (2023) User Reviews

Raging Grace: Passable but forgettable

[Platypuschow · 6/10 · 2 January 2024]

Plot

An undocumented Filipina immigrant lands a job as a care-worker for a terminal old man, securing a better life for her and her daughter. But a dark discovery threatens to destroy everything she's strived for and holds dear.

Cast

With the exception of David Hayman I knew nobody involved.

Verdict

A British/Philippine collaboration, my watching this was oddly accidental. You see the film was labelled incorrectly, it wasn't until about half way through I resigned myself to the fact it wasn't the intended film but by that point I was invested.

So it was a pot luck movie and not at all a waste of time either, it was quite the odd little surprise.

Starting off as a gritty drama it descends into a suspenseful thriller and goes in a couple of directions you most certainly will not see coming!

An odd little tale it touches upon immigration and the perils of those who fight to stay on our shores, but a lot of that is drowned out by the plot and isn't a major factor in the story in the slightest.

Hayman is excellent here, suitably creepy and our leading lady put in a strong performance as well.

It's interesting, but it's forgettable.

Rants

When it comes to immigration it's another subject matter that one political side seems to hear something else when you speak of it. To them pro-immigration = Open borders, I can confidently say I've never met anyone who wants open borders before! It's a wonderful concept isn't it? The idea that you can travel freely and set down roots wherever you want within red tape. It should be a thing, but even the slightest drop of logic is enough to bring you back down to earth and appreciate it just couldn't happen. But demonizing people for wanting a better life or in many instances wanting to simply live is even less logical.

Breakdown

Interesting film Great twist David Hayman is great Some parts fall flat Forgettable.

Worth the watch if you're a thinking person!

[daniellecbrown73 · 7/10 · 29 December 2023]

The poor reviews are quite odd in my view.

The film depicts the brutal reality of illegal employment in this country, particularly in domestic service.

Some reviews have complained about the flow or direction of the film but the way it's split into acts serves the intended purpose of shifting to the point to be made.

It's a cruel film in that Joy & Grace are caught up in an unfortunate circumstance of bad luck when it comes to their residence. Joy, the mother and protagonist hides her daughter Grace away from her employers, hiding her in a suitcase when moving in then making her sleep in a wardrobe to protect her from being seen.... The lengths some parents will go to in search of a 'better life' in their minds.

Grace is undoubtedly a wilful and precocious child but she's bored and frustrated, so what child wouldn't lash out and grasp onto any semblance of kindness. This of course is manipulated much later by the very person whose life they saved.

Villains become human and justice is somewhat served.

Good

[PedroPires90 · 7/10 · 16 September 2023]

• Excellent relationship and dynamics between mother and daughter. Perfect cast.

• It has a lot to say about the weight and value of immigrants and how important they are for societies to function. It just didn't need an on-the-nose speech in the third act.

• The rich don't seem to know how to have relationships that don't involve possession and ownership. Eat them!

• I loved how music and sound effects were used to create suspense.

• It has its share of unexpected scenes and actions, with a very nice editing and camera work.

• The ending isn't entirely perfect, but the final scene is.

• That mischievous girl reminds me too much of my son.

• Old people love to hoard everything.

Paris Zarcilla is a filmmaker to keep an eye on! [+64%]

[arungeorge13 · 6/10 · 16 December 2023]

My initial sense of wonder was concerning its title: Raging Grace. Why Raging Grace? Why NOT Raging Joy (sounds like a paradox in itself)? Joy is, whom we're made to believe, the protagonist of this story. And for the most part, she is. An illegal Filipina immigrant in the UK who works mostly as a caretaker (slash) house-help, Joy's story has several layers. For starters, she's also a single mother, and the father of her child is shown to be an abusive employer. Joy (Max Eigenmann) and her daughter Grace (Jaeden Paige Boadilla) have secrets of their own. Sometimes, Joy sneaks Grace into her employers' homes when they're away. Joy is trying to become documented, and she has to pay off a reasonably large sum of money to get this done. Joy and Grace switch between English and Tagalog while conversing. Joy's discomfort of being looked down upon by rich British employers and frequently addressed using the wrong terms ("you people!") is evident early on.

When Joy lands a job as a housekeeper at a mansion with an old man in a coma and her niece, she sees it as an opportunity to come clean and eventually secure their own place of residence. The setup is ripe. The performances are riveting. The film seamlessly moves into its second act, where what begins as a fairly straightforward set of tasks for Joy, slowly builds suspense, and inadvertently, a sense of psychological horror. The house harbors even bigger secrets, and they start to unfurl one after the other. Some of the plot developments seem predictable, but there's always a neat flow from scene to scene. Director Paris Zarcilla also crafts a tense little atmosphere within the house, and given that a large chunk of the film takes place inside of it, the filmmaker exhibits decent control over the staging of sequences.

The final act, while turning into a "who's the greater evil?" narrative, also reinstates why Grace is the film's protagonist. It's interesting, even if the proceedings lack the steam and momentum of the earlier acts. The "horror" then stops being subtle and suddenly becomes very in-your-face, very real. This does take away some of its storytelling glory, which otherwise, would've ended up being one of the smartest immigrant horror films in recent times.

Raging Grace

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 15 January 2024]

"Joy" (Max Eigenmann) is struggling to find work and bring up her young daughter "Grace" (Jaeden Paige Boadilla) in a Britain where she has no legal status. That sends her down the agency cleaning route where she arrives at the large home of "Katherine" (Leanne Best) who is looking after her bedridden elderly uncle "Garrett" (David Hayman). Now her new employer knows nothing of the daughter, even though her's is a live-in appointment. It's only when "Katherine" has to go away for a weekend leaving the elderly man - and his medication - in her care, that "Grace" can be herself a bit more and we start to realise that there's something fishy going on. Indeed, a mishap with the pills starts to enliven this hitherto husk of a man and we soon start to wonder if "Katherine" isn't up to no good. The enigmatic "Garrett" is clearly no saint either, and though he befriends the curious and friendly "Grace" with hot chocolate, it's increasingly clear that he too has an agenda - especially when her mother is rounded up by immigration officials. Most of this film is actually unremarkable, but the last half hour or so does liven it up a little as all of the characters start to come into play and the story begins to pick up some pace. Hayman delivers quite well, keeping us guessing for a while about the true nature of his character, but the rest of the acting and the writing are neither here nor there and there is much too much preamble. The denouement reminded me a little of something Edgar Wright might have delivered, but otherwise it's not really much more than an OK watch.

I

[tchitouniaram · 6/10 · 28 December 2023]

Did like this film , considering its the first feature film of the director , it is pretty good . The one way , seems to me , this movie would be much better , if there would be less attempts to make a half baked horror out of It and just make a decent psychological drama , the fundament for which was expertly prepared in the beginning of the film . Everything was there : nice acting ( little girl is amazing ))) , story , hardship and tragedy ... unfortunately , later the film started to move into the wrong direction of the cheap jump scares and chaotic visions ... Hopefully , this promising debut will lead to something better ...

Waste of your time

[alexandraahlen · 4/10 · 26 December 2023]

Even though the movie touches the important subject of immigration, that is not at all in any way the central topic. The actors are good, and the scenery is nice, but the actual directing and the actual acting is quite bad. The reviews gave me a bit of hope, but after the end, it was sadly just waste of my time. I don't recommend it. Watching good actors act bad for the movies sake just makes you frustrated.. Choose something else to watch. I hoped this movie would be more about the lives for immigrants living illegally, and the struggles they go through, but it was actually just about a typical Karen and her strange uncle. Does NOT deserve the credit it's been given.

Mind numbing.

[Mori6 · 1/10 · 13 February 2024]

This movie is so, so bad. It's nothing like the trailer would have you think. The plot is just ridiculous bordering on farcical.

The characters are paper thin with no real logic to their actions. You can't feel any emotion other than grating annoyance and confusion at them. They can't seem to pick a personality each either. Too many silly or overly convient happenings mixed with pointless twists just makes a mess of a painfully below average plot.

There are very few "scares" or actual horror elements so I'd barely class it as anything beyond eerie drama maybe thriller but a weak one. It's a loose, sickly nudge at classism and immigration at best.

A powerful thriller with emotional plot twists

[jodyparkuruguay · 10/10 · 21 July 2023]

The first few minutes in, I didn't know what kind of movie this would be. But soon I quickly got engaged in how Joy and Grace got mixed up with a suspicious rich boss lady in a mansion- and the first half of the film the suspense was really good. Like watching a crime show. Then, the twists got even crazier on the later half when you can't even tell who the bad guy(or girl) is! Every 10 minutes I found myself rooting for a different character. It sort of reminded me a little of The Parasite, where a poor family moves in a rich family's home. All in all, the ending wraps up nicely and the last scene stays with you.

Meh...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 2 January 2024]

When I sat down to watch the 2023 movie "Raging Grace", I thought I was in for a horror movie. Truth be told, I had never actually heard about the movie prior to sitting down to watch it, but the synopsis sounded interesting enough, and it was labelled as a horror movie. So of course I opted to give the movie a fair chance.

The storyline and narrative in "Raging Grace" was a bit of a swing and a miss. Sure, there were things in the script that seemed interesting enough, but the overall impression that director Paris Zarcilla left me with throughout the course of the 99 minutes that the movie ran for was a bland one.

There wasn't a whole lot happening throughout the course of the movie, and you need to go about 75 minutes into the movie before things actually start to take off. But nothing ever really happens, and the movie doesn't really take off. It was a rather anti-climatic viewing experience.

Writers Pancake Zarcilla and Paris Zarcilla didn't impress me with this 2023 movie. And it is a movie that will just quietly fade into oblivion and obscurity, because this is not a movie that will grace my screen a second time.

It was not because of the acting performances, not at all. Because the acting performances in the movie were good, and they definitely had some good actresses and actors on the cast list. I wasn't familiar with leading actress Max Eigenmann (playing Joy), but she really carried the movie quite nicely. And it certainly was nice to see actor David Hayman on the screen in his particular role and character.

"Raging Grace" is more of a thriller mystery than a horror movie. But calling it a thriller is actually stretching it a bit as well.

My rating of "Raging Grace" lands on a very generous four out of ten stars.

A decent look at classism and immigration with some twists

[aronharde · 5/10 · 19 April 2024]

In 2023's "Raging Grace" we are introduced to an undocumented Filipina immigrant who was able to land a job as a care worker. She is working for a woman and her terminally ill uncle who doesn't speak or even react. She also brings a little secret to the job in form of her little daughter who she brings with her into the mansion without permission. She is happy with the job and only wants to secure a better life for her daughter and her but soon she uncovers some secrets and strange occurrences.

The movie has a pretty decent production value and the rather simple setup gets more complex and intriguing throughout. There are multiple twists and turns that give you a new perspective to look at characters and the way they are behaving. The movie deals with classism and immigration in an interesting though rather effortless way. The acting is pretty good especially from the young daughter who enters her rebellious phase not wanting to listen to her mother and doing her own thing. Overall it was a decent watch but the slow pacing and overall forgettable premise will only stick to some audiences. [5,2/10]

A, appropriate balance between genre and narrative

[zipriano · 8/10 · 24 January 2024]

I see a lot of people missing the point of the film by saying it disregards the topic of immigration. The director, Paris Zarcilla choose the horror genre having this issue in mind and in his heritage. There's a delightful play with tempo and rhythm in the film, as well as many details that have been carefully though of. The camerawork and editing give the movie a quality that is normally found in productions with larger budgets. It refuses to be a simple informative film about the topic of immigration that can be easily consumed, but rather opts for sudden jumpscares to allow the audience to feel the fright and uneasy situations immigrants have to go through. It reaches a subjective level and also has some beautifully symmetrical arrangements that give for a film with a couple of plot-twists.

May You All Rage Gracefully

[kluseba · 9/10 · 4 January 2024]

Raging Grace is a British-Filipino movie that combines family drama, psychological thriller and mild horror elements coherently, excitedly and fluidly. Director Paris Zarcilla convinces with his first full length feature. Lead actress Maxine Eve Pimentel Eigenmann might offer the greatest performance of her career thus far.

The movie revolves around worried undocumented Filipina immigrant Joy who lives in abject poverty with her joyful daughter Grace. Joy starts working in an isolated mansion for a cold-hearted lady of prosperous background. She secretly makes her daughter Grace stay with her. Her most challenging task is to take care of an old family member with a serious medical condition that forces him to take medication that leaves him in a comatic state in his bed. When the lady of the mansion leaves for several days, Joy starts suspecting that the lady wants to kill the elderly man. She nurses him back to health as he soon regains consciousness. However, Joy soon starts to realize that the apparently grateful old man isn't as innocent as he claims to be and things are quickly spiraling out of control.

This film convinces on numerous levels. First and foremost, the story is particularly intriguing. The difficult lives of Joy and Grace are portrayed excellently in the exposition. Joy has to do some odd jobs and fights very hard to purchase illegal papers that might authorize her to stay in Great Britain. Grace is an adventurous and joyful child without a permanent home or any access to public education or friends of her own age. The rising action starts slowly as viewers are led to believe that the arrogant new employer might be a dangerous villain. The climax offers several twists and turns that will keep viewers on the edges of their seats. The falling action is quite intense as a series of dramatic events occur one after another. The resolution certainly leaves a lasting impression and offers food for discussion and thought.

The lead characters in this movie convince so much because their situations are fleshed out very well, because the hardship they face is unforgiving and because the actresses performing mother and daughter are particularly credible. The villains in the movie are certainly gloomy, mysterious and unpredictable. However, they are lacking a little bit of depth and have been created by the numbers. The movie's weakest point is the idea to portray illegal immigrants as heroines and rich locals as abusive villains. That approach is a little bit stereotypical and superficial.

Still, Raging Grace is a movie that deserves attention and acclaim. Its vibrant mixture of family drama, psychological thriller and mild horror makes for a unique combination. The acting performances are excellent. The story features dramatic twists and turns offering food for discussion and thought. The movie entertains from start to finish without any significant lengths. The film's only negative element is the stereotypical and superficial portrayal of its villains.

A sterling Philippine drama/thriller that has a lot to like

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 8/10 · 26 July 2023]

Trying to make a better life for herself, an undocumented single mother sees a chance for a major life change when she and her daughter move into a house to care for an ailing man and his niece, but the more they stay there the more they realize the bizarre relationship may put them in danger.

There's quite a lot to like with this one. Among its brighter aspects is a solid central setup that makes for a wholly engaging scenario to be utilized here. The first half explores quite heavily and naturally, the desperation she feels at keeping her life in order despite it all crumbling down around her, ranging from the struggles of finding housing for her and her daughter to facing the racism and misogynistic abuse for the work she does and the natural indignation of being a single mother. This gives the new job opportunity such a sense of importance for her that she can use it as a means of escaping this lifestyle only to end up stumbling upon a far more dangerous threat inside the house which gets uncovered slowly during her employment. This is handled incredibly well for a great start to things. This early setup allows the film to really ratchet up the tension in the second half. This employs a rather frenetic ploy as the living conditions she'd been working under change constantly due to a solid series of explanations and reveals that come about. With so much of the first part involving the daughter living there in secret trying not to alert her boss about it or being inundated with all sorts of rules about her care routine and responsibilities, there's an air of suspense and unease present that helps to make the revelations present that come about regarding the proper treatment or loyalty feel far more shocking and clever. As these lead into a frenetic finale offering some shocking truths and reveals about who's in charge, it all provides quite a lot to really enjoy here. While not overtly a flaw, this does have some drawbacks to be had. One of the main factors against it is the second half introducing some extra reveals and reversals which don't need to be there. The incidents involving the true unscrupulous behavior of the two battling for the position of head of the house come off as forced as if this is relying on providing a shocking barrier for her to overcome as the main focus. Instead, this ends up causing a whirlwind of ideas floating about where it crams ideas at random to create a decided lack of focus as a result. Now, this factor doesn't impact quite heavily at all but due to the rather heavy care that the first half had displayed, this becomes obvious and is what holds it back.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

Good movie

[Pilolai · 8/10 · 17 December 2023]

I am definitely having my kids watch this movie so they can see what disobedience leads to. I hated that little girl from the first scene and she needed to get spanked a couple times. But that is what happens when you do not spank your kids, they behave like she did. This movie is also about trust and not keeping your eyes and not minding your business. Overall good acting and entertaining. Good story line. I am glad it showed what immigrants and domestic workers have to go throw. I wish they all had justice as this lady did at the end. Make sure you watch it during the day time because it does take a bit to get to the end.

(R)aging with Grace

[kosmasp · 10/10 · 28 September 2023]

No pun intended - the quote is from the movie or rather from the end credits. So thanks for that. I was struggling to think of something and then along came this. The movie delivers on many things - this being just one of them. Acting is top notch and the movie is obviously very well researched - or rather lived .. since the director himself had to go through a lot of that stuff growing up.

It is not easy to live in a time when extremism (especially from the right) is on the rise again. Just me writing this, will trigger some people - which will make them "not like" my review. But they won't like the movie either - so maybe they won't even read anything ... and just dislike.

Life would be so much better and easier if we were able to listen to each other. And try to empathize ... you can tell that the movie shows many things that are wrong. Very well acted for sure ... and a tight script - neat and good twists included.