They Live in the Grey – Terrifying
Director: Abel Vang, Burlee Vang
Writer: Abel Vang, Burlee Vang (Screenplay)
Starring: Michelle Krusiec, Ken Kirby, Madelyn Grace, Audrey Moore, Ellen Wroe, Mercedes Manning, Bernard Bullen
Plot: Claire, while investigating a child abuse case, discovers that the family is being tormented by a supernatural entity.
Runtime: 2 Hours 3 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: They Live in the Grey starts as we meet the grieving child protective service agent Claire Yang (Krusiec), who does try to support the connect between a mother a child, even if it means them getting separated.
When Claire gets her latest case on the Lang family, with daughter Sophie (Grace) showing signs of abuse, she meets the family Audrey (Wroe) and Giles (Cacia), struggling to see any problems between the family, seeing the bigger problem, a supernatural entity attacking the family.
Thoughts on The Live in the Grey
Characters & Performances – Claire Yang is a child protective service agent that has lost her own son, she will always want to keep the families together or at least having a connection if there are troubles, which will put her job at risk at times. Claire does suffer from visits from the dead, with each having a shocking story to tell, but she doesn’t get them treated because it will also bring her a visit from her own son. This gift will help her in the latest case, as a supernatural entity is targeting the family, making everything look like abuse to anyone on the outside. Claire goes through an incredible amount of pain, scares and shocks through this film, which is highlighted in the excellent performance from Michelle Krusiec, delivering in every scene. When it comes to the family being investigated, we have parents Audrey and Giles that are coming off innocent through the events, while Sophie can’t explain what is happening to her, in a way that makes sense. Claire is also still with her husband Peter who between the both of them have been struggling to have the same connection they once had.
Story – They Live in the Grey will bring us a story that will focus on the difficult position child protective services agents will find themselves in, when needing to investigate a family, mixing this with the own grief suffered from a parent losing their own child. The story will put most of the focus on the agent and her problems, not giving s much time to spend with the family, which adds to the mystery about what is real or supernatural, while the agent deals with her own problems with the visits from the undead. The best way to describe the story would be to show how Claire is dealing with grief and until she learns to accept support, she will remain in the darkness that is holding her back.
Themes – They Live in the Grey is a horror thriller that will dive into the idea that people can connect with the dead, giving us plenty of terrifying scares along the way. Each scare will come off with a relentless feel, as we are trapped like Claire in the environment she would consider safe. There will also be a discussion about what would be right in the child abuse cases, which will opening up a bigger discussion on how much time a case should have.
Final Thoughts – They Live in the Grey is filled with scares and grief through the darkness in the film.
