2009 AFI Dallas Film Festival - Grace

(USA, 2008, 83 mins)
35mm
Directed By: Paul Solet

Eight months pregnant, and preoccupied with both a natural childbirth and a pure-body lifestyle, Madeline Matheson deflects her demanding mother-in-law's insistent pressure for standard hospital treatment, instead opting for a trusted midwife. Her husband remains supportive of her choices until a tragic accident leaves her unborn baby lifeless inside of her.

Madeline remains determined to carry the stillborn baby to term, where she miraculously wills the delivered corpse into life. But it is not too long before the increasingly isolated mother realizes that something is not right with baby Grace, and she must make horrible sacrifices to keep her alive.

In his feature debut, writer/director Paul Solet assuredly approaches the medium, displaying a cocksure confidence in his construction of this modern horror fable. He relies upon a precise and slow-building technical elegance, supplemented by fearless performances and a genuinely frightening story, to violate the sanctity of a mother’s love and create true horror.

Information from the festival's website