Review
Handling the Undead (Horror, Drama) [Based on Novel] (2024)
Director: Thea Hvistendahl
Writer: Thea Hvistendahl, John Ajvide Lindqvist (Based on Novel by)
Stars: Renate Reinsve, Bente Børsum, Dennis Østby Ruud, Bjørn Sundquist
A son, a mother, and a wife formerly deceased return to an animated state to the shock of their loved ones, having to adjust to their sudden re-emergence.
As an adaptation of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel by the same name, ‘’Handling the Undead’’ premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Bestowing upon the concerned audiences an avant-garde depiction of the living dead, unlike most—however, certainly unlike the reawakened remains we’ve come to be familiar with within the zombie sub-genre. It was produced by Einar Film, Zentropa, Film i Väst and the Norwegian and Swedish Film Institutes while distributed by Nordisk Film.
Multiple families, each grieving a loss all their own, are confronted by a mysterious phenomenon as their deceased loved ones return to a state of re-animation. Confronted by this occurrence, their trauma settles, caring for those thought gone forever, despite their inability to vocalise their feelings or intentions.
Within Hvistendahl’s showing lies a challenging narrative, lethargically passing through each scene as an exploration of grief, trauma and the conditions of their current situation. Whether ravaged by an emotional torrent recently, slowly adjusting to their irreversibly transformed lives or dealing with the aftermath of a horrific accident, each household within ‘’Handling the Undead’’ has its own cross to bear. In a listless cinematic endeavour similar to the insentient-revived themselves lies a much more subtle and connecting piece. Gone are the days of mindlessly ravenous depictions of the flesh-eating monsters of the night, where Hvistendahl and novelist Lindqvist are concerned, instead providing something seemingly only able to be depicted in the niche of particular foreign cinema.
Gradually shedding skin to unveil the thoughts and opinions of its characters near-purely through visual methods, it layers the screenplay emotionally. Showing the lives of each, in a pale reflection of what it once could’ve been; before transforming into an even more languid examination as the tepid frames pass in a pabulum as those deceased clambering back to some sense of living. Wading through each scene, it becomes more evident that this experimental-feeling feature isn’t about those departed. Instead, it is about the living and the mental state they find themselves in, bathing in their unremitting grief.
Incomparable, yet starved—while an inspired attempt, ‘’Handling the Undead’’ fails to capture its audience enough with its more profound themes; instead, overtaken by artistic intent and promise. For something as unusual, it harkens back to a creeping death. Instead of deliberating why you cannot just outrun them, you expect the living on the silver screen not to attach themselves to the emotional ties they are impossible to shed. While these moral dilemmas provide the omitted depth, this isn’t enough to satiate a ravenous hunger that lingers within these sedentary shells of who they once were.
Verdict
There's only one true way of handling the undead, and it isn't coddling them.
4,5
