‘Raging Grace’ review: Dir. Paris Zarcilla [Fantasia 2023]

In Paris Zarcilla’s Raging Grace, undocumented Filipina immigrant Joy (Max Eigenmann) finds herself in an ever increasing amount of strife. The young mother is trying her best to juggle both her headstrong daughter Grace (Jaeden Paige Boadilla) and her job as a housekeeper. Everything she earns is saving toward obtaining illegal immigration papers, and so the pair routinely squat in the affluent houses of those Joy works for whilst the owners are away. It has caused a rift between mother and child, the latter being fed up with a nomadic existence, but then a job comes along that might just be too good to be true. 

Of course if something seems too good to be true, it is likely because it is. Joy however, gladly accepts the work in a remote stately home from aristocrat Katherine (Leanne Best). The job is simple: bring the unkempt house back to standard and maintain its cleanliness for as long as her sickly uncle (David Hayman) is alive. In exchange, Joy will receive £1000 a week and her very own room. Initially the job is fine, but soon both Grace and Joy start to suspect Katherine’s intentions toward her uncle. What exactly has Joy gotten herself and her daughter into? And can they get back out again? 

Whilst Raging Grace does contain plenty of traditional moments of horror, the real fear comes from its honesty. Life for many immigrants is tough. The early montages highlight the monotony of Joy’s working life. Conversations, or rather the sermons, from her wealthy employers are insufferable. It is infuriating that, in spite of their riches, Joy still struggles to provide for her family. It is that huge divide between the haves and the have nots that is the true horror here. Similarly, the lowlife that is extorting Joy is deplorable. Even before she has signed up for Katherine’s work, Joy never feels like she is in a place of safety. 

Her need to earn money pushed her into increasingly dangerous situations, but moving in with Katherine and her uncle is the worst. Her desperation for the job instantly places her in peril as she fails to inform Katherine of Grace’s existence. Fearful that she will lose out on what appears to be a dream job, she fails to notify Katherine of her status as a mother. This omission leads to one Raging Grace’s most heartstopping scene as Joy tries to sneak her daughter into the house using the most dangerous of methods. 

Zarcilla wields great skill at slowly tightening the net around Joy and Grace. Even in early moments it feels like Joy and Grace’s ruse of house-hopping could be discovered at any minute. As their secret keeping intensifies, with Grace trying to sneak around the house without Katerine discovering her, so too does the tension. By the time Raging Grace reaches its conclusion, nails will have been gnawed down to the quick. Zarcilla is also an expert at writing and realising a twisty thriller. The dangers facing Joy and Grace constantly escalate and there is plenty of misdirection to befuddle even the most astute viewer. 

Raging Grace was reviewed at Fantasia International Film Festival. Raging Grace will next screen at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest in August.