Director: Thea Hvistendahl
Writer: Thea Hvistendahl, John Ajvide Lindqvist
Stars: Renta Reinsve, Anders Danielsen Le, Bahar Pars
Synopsis: On a hot summer day in Oslo, the dead mysteriously awaken, and three families are thrown into chaos when their deceased loved ones come back to them. Who are they, and what do they want?
To simply summarize Thea Hvistendahl’s Handling The Undead as a zombie movie would be a disservice to what this film attempts to address. While certainly operating through the lens of a genre film, this plays out far more in the realm of an intriguing drama grappling with the variety of ways in which humans handle grief. Following the lives of four groups dealing with the aftermath of tragic loss, Hvistendahl’s film, based off of the 2005 John Ajvide Lindqvist novel of the same name begs the question: if we always hope and pray for our loved ones to return, what would it mean if they actually did? It’s a chilling film that relies heavily on both gorgeous cinematography and a moody score to maximize the impact it has on its audience.
The film opens up in a small apartment, and we’re treated to faint glimpses of an older gentleman. Keeping the viewer at a distance, many shots in Handling the Undead barely lend a peak around a doorframe or window. Considering how much these stories are interested in the process of grief stages, the cinematography in the earlier sequences succeeds at displaying how we cope when we don’t think anybody is watching. The film certainly takes its time doling out information, and it works all the better for it. While there would seem to be a benefit from providing a bit more by the latter half, there’s an admirable quality to committing to a specific tone and pace for the entirety of a runtime. We begin to learn that the elderly gentleman is the father of Anna (Renate Reinsve), who is grieving the loss of her young child. Barely able to function, she drones out any feelings she might have by blasting music. Her inability to eat is captured not explicitly, but her father’s ritual of leaving wrapped plates atop one another in the fridge will hit close to home for anybody who has cared for a grieving loved one.
Handling the Undead feels as if it’s packed full of imagery that subtly, yet powerfully, aims to make the thesis statement behind the film’s choices as clear as possible. For example, upon the introduction to the rest of the characters, there’s an overhead shot of two separate freeway loops that are practically touching. While the disparate stories captured in this film never intersect with one another, they come incredibly close to one another emotionally; they are all dealing with devastation in their own manner. Importantly, none are ever judged for how they handle the situations present. And by situations, yes, I am referring to the fact that their deceased loved ones have returned as zombies.
These aren’t the cinematic zombies we have grown accustomed to. More than anything, they meander. But there are fleeting moments where it feels as if those that have returned have a semblance of memory. Or at the very least, they have some sort of feeling. Unfortunately, this concept isn’t as deeply explored as the living characters themselves, but it does bring up another fascinating question. If the living would do anything for their loved ones to return, would those we have lost want to return in the first place? If viewing the film through that lens, it becomes a bit of a disappointment, but there’s enough variety in the situations presented that leave you intrigued.
Perhaps the strongest element of Handling the Undead is right there in the title itself. Each of these characters, by the end of the film, finds a way of dealing with their newfound discoveries. There are those who, after their experience, finally allow themselves to grieve. In it, we see the importance of acceptance. In another, we see commitment to making it work no matter the dilemma. And finally, we witness denial until it’s no longer feasible, and how we just eventually force ourselves to move on and continue living despite it all.
While it would have been fascinating to get a bit more context into the world at large and how it is dealing with such a scenario, the film and story don’t seem necessarily all that interested in the larger scope of this frightening event. It’s solely focused on how a certain set of individuals, and by extension, how countless individuals around the globe, would deal with their own thoughts and feelings regarding such a situation. For better or worse, Handling the Undead remains steadfast in its patient approach. Handling grief is, in and of itself, an arduous journey. If at times the film feels like it could propel forward a bit, perhaps Hvistendahl is simply trying to steep us in the stages of grief as cinematically as possible.
Handling the Undead celebrated its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in the World Dramatic Competition section, and will be released by Neon later this year.
