Grace (2014)

A Major Disappointment

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Alexia Fast plays Grace, a virginal, sweet, repressed girl who may or may not be in the possession of a demon. At first, her induction into college is trouble free, but what with hallucinations of death, feinting spells, nightmares and an inability to truly 'fit in' (despite her best efforts), she is soon taken back to her home, and her puritanical, purse-lipped grandmother who has long since been her Guardian. Poor Grace is barked at, shouted at, talked down to, bullied and ordered around against her will, before the inner evil she carries is let out in a climactic finale which exposes the reasons for the demon's mission of retribution. What sets this apart from virtually every other horror film I've seen is that everything is seen from Grace's point-of-view: we are her eyes, we see first-hand how she is treated, we feel her pain. At first, this threatens to be a clumsy way of story-telling (the only times we actually see Grace is in her reflection in mirrors, the rest of Fast's performance – apart from vocal – is the nervous ringing of her hands and fiddling with her dress to demonstrate unease), but very soon, we have become used to this painstakingly achieved way of telling a solid possession story.The cast are great. Apart from the excellent Fast, there is Lin Shaye as the shrew of a Grandmother (herself an outcast from her fellow church-goers) and Alan Dale as Father John, the man ultimately responsible for all that is happening. His drowning in holy water is too mild a punishment for him.The exorcism at the end, where effects come to the fore, still being shown from Grace's POV, nearly lapses into cartoon CGI, but manages to avoid that before an 'Exorcist (1973)'-style denouement.

The eighteen year-old Grace (Alexia Fast) is a Catholic teenager raised by her grandmother Helen (Lin Shaye) since her mother died giving birth to her and her father is unknown. Grace joins the university and has frequent blackouts. The doctor diagnoses her and tells that she might have a mental condition, suggesting her to visit a psychiatrist. However the pious Helen brings her granddaughter home and forces her to frequent the church. Soon Grace discovers hidden secrets from her mother and the priests tell that evil is inside her."Grace" is a boring, unoriginal and lame low-budget horror movie of exorcism. The movie is destroyed by the awful and irritating camera work. My vote is three.Title (Brazil): "O Mistério de Grace" ("The Mystery of Grace")

OK so this is YET another possession movie. The afflicted here is an innocent church going girl who is stalked by a malevolent force.The Good (or nice): No nudity. Tastefullly executed camera work which eliminates the need for nudity which is quite common in this genre.The Bad (or annoying): the movie is a POV movie i.e. you see events from the eyes of the protagonist. This tactic - while interesting, doesn't make up for the shallow script and storyline.The Ugly (or boring): There is NOTHING original about this movie. It is greatly inspired by The Exorcism of Emily Rose - right from the College Campus locale to events happening on campus. The 'take me instead' is borrowed from The Exorcist - end scene. Also similar to Anthony Hopkins' - The Rite (where an exorcist is possessed). The cruel Grand Mother is borrowed from the similar religiously deranged character from the Carrie movie (carrie's mother).I'm upset that they never explained what the malevolent force/entity was. They never really explained much about the Protagonist's mother - until the very end - which kind of explains why the mother denies God in the beginning of the movie. But nothing more than that. The story is shallow and lacking. They could've added some layers to the characters - so we feel something for them and understand - why they are the way they are. Though, the characters are kinda bland.OK, so avoid this movie at all costs - if you've seen any of the movies I've cited. if you've never seen any possession type movie - then you may watch this movie - keeping in mind - that you should have extremely low entertainment expectations.

I was really pleasantly surprised. The first-person POV is well done, the cast can act, the story is complete, and there isn't a single wasted moment.What may turn some potential viewers off is that this movie is also Lifetime-channel-ready, as there is no gore or nudity (at least in the version I saw), which normally would be fine for me, because I don't need the typical tacky tropes of horror movies to be able to enjoy a horror movie.However, in this case, the lack of nudity and gore is actually too safe and too tame, as it detracts from the movie's overall impact, especially with the back story glimpses and progressive changes in the lead character, but that's hardly a reason to stay away. And there must be the inevitable director's cut available sooner or later...