[Film Review] An Unquiet Grave (2020)

On the anniversary of his wife Julia’s sudden, untimely death, Jamie convinces her twin sister Ava to perform a dark, esoteric ritual that will allow them to see Julia again. But after completing the ritual, it becomes clear that Jamie has been less than honest about its true nature, leading all involved to question the lasting cost of their conjuring.

An Unquiet Grave is a slow burning, quiet and sombre film. It centres on the dialogue between Jamie and Ava, slowly building a sense of tension and unease as the truth about the ritual they have enacted becomes clear. If you are expecting a pulse pounding, jump scare of a horror film, look elsewhere. Indeed, the majority of the criticism surrounding this film seems to stem from its avoidance of jump scares and the typical tropes, in favour of two characters who spend the majority of the film conversing in a car or dark, spooky woodland. 

Initially, I was also put off by how little seemed to be happening. It was hard to see how this was going to stretch to a feature-length film. But, at the halfway mark, it became clear to me that An Unquiet Grave has more than a touch of the gothic about it, with certain elements that wouldn’t be out of place in an Edgar Allan Poe story. From a knife that won’t stop bleeding, to men weeping by gravesides, and hearts being exposed to the cool night air, this film pays clear homage to classic ghost stories. When viewed in this light, what has been, perhaps harshly, viewed as a lack of pace and action by other reviewers instead becomes a quiet meditation on grief, rather than a jump scare driven, grisly haunted house piece. 

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Indeed, grief and what we do with it is the central theme of An Unquiet Grave. In Ava’s case, she has grown increasingly morbid and strange, researching decomposition and trying to understand the process of death. She is a ghost in her own life, a constant reminder of Julia. Jamie has chosen to ignore much of this, growing disgusted when Ava references it, and instead has settled into a kind of longing stasis, in which he grows consumed with the idea of getting Julia back. The ritual enacted by Jamie and Ava is not one cast in the throes of heartbreak as a loved one dies in your arms, or voiced with a primal scream of rage at the injustice of loss. This is a ritual borne out of the quiet, restrained planning that comes from deep seated, permanent grief, the kind that calcifies into your bones and changes the shape of your mouth. Despite the clear tension between the two, there is a sense of intimacy between them, in Jamie’s gentle anointing of Ava’s forehead during the ritual, or his tender care over an injury sustained during it. There is a sense of all that has been left unsaid between them, of the strange space they now exist in, as two people with nothing to connect them, but also as the people who knew Julia best. 

The real horror in An Unquiet Grave is Jamie’s selfishness, and his refusal to let go and accept that his wife is dead, rather than the spectral repercussions of his actions. His willingness to manipulate to achieve what he wants is chilling, as is his rationalisation of his behaviour. Alongside this, is his consistent wheedling and distraction, as well as aggressive outbursts, that are designed to distract Ava from the very rational concerns she raises, questions one might expect when proposing a light dabble into necromancy. As all good horror does, An Unquiet Grave reminds us that the real horror lies in the hearts of those around us, and that the human urge to possess and destroy that should haunt us more than any phantasm. 

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