Watch Grace

Grace is a psychological horror movie from 2018 directed by Devin Adair and featuring an ensemble cast that includes Katie Cassidy, Tate Donovan, and Matthew Lillard. The plot centers around Madeline Matheson, played by Katie Cassidy, a young mother who lost her husband during childbirth and had to raise her daughter Grace single handily. Grace is a stillborn baby, but Matheson was determined and prayed over the child's body for several weeks until she miraculously comes back to life, or so she thinks.

As the movie progresses, it becomes apparent that Grace is not a regular baby. For instance, she doesn't cry, doesn't feed on regular baby food, and Matheson is obsessed with keeping the baby alive using unconventional methods such as feeding her a special diet of human blood obtained from donors. Initially, Matheson rejoices in Grace's revival, but over time she becomes more isolated and detached from the world, which leads to concern by her mother-in-law, played by Lin Shaye. The mother-in-law becomes suspicious and eventually reports Matheson to the authorities, which draws the attention of pediatrician Paul (Tate Donovan), who forms a relationship with Matheson while investigating the baby's health.

As the story unfolds, Matheson's mental instability becomes more apparent as she continues to obsess over keeping Grace alive. The movie takes the audience down the road of believable reality, but as the story progresses, the viewer's conception of what is real or not gets increasingly clouded. The audience is left with massive uncertainty, wondering what is real and what is just ambient noise.

The movie's characters are well-developed, predominantly Madeline Matheson, who is displayed as a tragic figure who has struggled to come to terms with the loss of her husband and the near-loss of her daughter. Her decision-making process isn't one that can be easily deduced, and Cassidy does an excellent job of conveying the character's sense of loss and distress. Tate Donovan's character serves not just as the voice of reason but also as a character the audience can rely on as the only one who wants to help both mother and child. Matthew Lillard plays a relatively small role as the baby's father, but his presence is felt throughout the movie.

The movie is shot in a way that keeps the audience fully engaged from start to finish. The director makes interesting use of defocused lights — flickering bulbs in the background, the contrast of the baby's bright eyes to the surrounding darkness — to create an atmosphere of anxiety and intrigue. The sound design of the movie heightens the viewer's sense of discomfort, highlighting the discomfort of Matheson's obsession and the mounting signs that something is amiss with the baby.

Grace's art direction is excellent. The movie's use of color adds vibrancy to the scenes, especially the newborn sheen of Grace's skin, which can't quite be connected to any natural hue. Additionally, there are eerie scenes of silence, broken only by the gentle hum of medical equipment or the subtle sound of shuffling in the background.

Grace is an unsettling and captivating movie that blends genres like horror and drama with ease. The viewer is left to decide on several crucial elements of the movie, like whether Grace is a supernatural entity or an ordinary child with an illness. At its core, Grace is a tale of maternal love and obsession that utilizes horror elements to heighten the audience's experience without being overbearing. The movie's final moments leave the audience with more questions than answers, questioning if what they saw was real or simply a hallucination brought on by a mother's grief.

All in all, Grace is a well-crafted horror movie that doesn't rely on jump scares and gore to create an original and tense atmosphere. The movie's fantastic acting, stellar art direction, and atmospheric sound design come together to create an intriguing work of horror that elevates the viewer's expectations of what psychological horror movies can do on a limited budget.

Grace is a 2019 comedy with a runtime of 1 hour and 30 minutes. It has received moderate reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 5.8.