Raging Grace

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]

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.

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.

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.

I'm pretty picky about the films I like. I found this to be very original, interesting and somewhat believable. Perhaps some folks didn't like the illegal immigrant prevailing.......

The story of an illegal Filipino immigrant with a young daughter, other than the details of their home country and family, is all too familiar. As Gloria, the protagonist says: "We care for you when you're dying" as well as all of the other things like cooking, cleaning, assisting in intimate bathroom duties. Some readers will say, "Oh, I don't have anyone like that to take care of me". Think again about that Honduran roofer who stayed on your job from morning to night. Your Mexican yardman who does a far better job and cheaper than the "legal" services. Americans like to reap the benefits from illegals, yet they're ready to "build that wall". Make up your damned mind.