As fans of Let the Right One In, we were super excited to have a chance to watch Handling the Undead, both films based on novels by John Ajvide Lindqvist. However, rather than follow a vampire story, the latter involves zombies, but not in the sense that audiences have grown accustomed to.

Directed by Thea Hvistendahl from a screenplay by Hvistendahl and Lindqvist, the film follows three simultaneous stories as each character is impacted by the awakening of their dead loved ones. From the start of the film, I already felt deeply moved as I witnessed the unraveling of each family’s tragedies. We are initially introduced to a grandfather (Bjørn Sundquist), who tries his hardest to connect with his grieving daughter (Renate Reinsve). As the film progresses, we are introduced to a happy family of four (Anders Danielsen Lie as the father, and Bahar Pars as the mother), whose lives are shattered after the mother is involved in a fatal accident. Lastly, we witness a lone funeral, where an elderly woman (Bente Børsum) grieves her wife’s death.

The film is extremely quiet and slow moving, with a poignant score that leads you through the story; this quietness makes the dialogue that much more impactful. This method really forces you to confront the stories, and you’re left with nothing but your thoughts. Also, you really pick up on every sound, such as the wheezing sounds of the reawakened dead, which is really emotionally impactful. All of the actors were incredible, portraying so much emotion without even a word at times. I felt really connected to the film’s portrayal of grief and not being able to let go, and I think that anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one can relate to the film’s profound story.

Handling the Undead is nothing like your typical zombie film. You’re not going to witness the fall of society, nor action-packed sequences featuring hordes of zombies and guns. Instead, you’ll concentrate on three intimate stories, where the recently awakened dead bring a hopefulness that is ultimately overshadowed by grief and the ways that people process death. It’s a beautifully bleak film that shows how something as seemingly simple as zombies can prove to be profound.

We give Handling the Undead a 5/5.