Fresh off a hugely successful festival run, Raging Grace, the debut feature from BIFA-nominated writer and director Paris Zarcilla, gets a brand new trailer today courtesy of Brainstorm Media and Doppelgänger Releasing- and trust us, you’re gonna want to get hyped for this one.
Produced by BFI Vision awarded producer Chi Thai, the gorgeously Gothic ‘coming of rage tale’ stars Max Eigenmann (Verdict), David Hayman (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Finding Your Feet) and adorable newcomer Jaeden Paige Boadilla as the titular Grace. An official plot synopsis reveals more:
Joy (Eigenmann), an undocumented Filipino immigrant who is struggling to do the best she can for her daughter when she secures the perfect job: taking care of an extremely wealthy but terminal old man. The new position pays well and guarantees a roof over their heads. But very soon, Joy and her daughter Grace (Boadilla) start to realize everything is not as it seems. Something is festering beneath the surface, threatening all they have worked for.
Since premiering at SXSW Film Festival earlier this year, Raging Grace has been sweeping up fest awards (including Narrative Feature Jury Award and Thunderbird Rising Award for Best Debut at SXSW) and generating a whole lot of buzz, including at London’s FrightFest where the film and subsequent Q&A received a standing ovation.
Previously, in a statement to Deadline, Zarcilla commented on the real life horrors of racism and prejudice, and how his own personal experience with bigotry influenced the creation of Raging Grace:
As a child of the diaspora, I’ve struggled against the notions of being the good immigrant and the bad immigrant for as long as I can remember. When the pandemic was in full swing, I felt a swell of rebellion that I needed to release – this is what Raging Grace was forged from and I hope its message resonates with audiences all over the world. ”
Excitingly, Raging Grace is the first in Zarcilla’s planned “Rage trilogy”, with a second and third film respectively titled Domestic and Ocean on Fire to follow.
Raging Grace releases in select theaters on December 1, and will be available on demand December 8.
