Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    Cosmic Spider-Man card details

    [EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW] The Spider-Man Set Gets A 5-Color Legendary Spider

    09/02/2025
    Lee Corso from College Football GameDay in EA Sports games

    EA Sports Always Understood Lee Corso’s Legacy

    09/01/2025
    Peacemaker Season 2 Episode 2 But Why Tho 10

    Spider-Man Is Coming To Magic And It’s Just Like The Comics

    08/29/2025
    Star Wars Visions Volume 3 Black

    ‘Black’ Sets The Tone For A Bold New Mixtape In ‘Star Wars Visions: Volume 3’

    08/28/2025
    Olivia Colman in The Roses

    ‘The Roses’ Is A Reimagining, Not A Remake, And That’s Why It Works So Well

    08/27/2025
  • Indie Games
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Apple TV+
But Why Tho?
Home » Film » SUNDANCE 2024: Grief Weighs Heavy In ‘Handling the Undead’

SUNDANCE 2024: Grief Weighs Heavy In ‘Handling the Undead’

Kate SánchezBy Kate Sánchez01/20/20243 Mins ReadUpdated:03/28/2024
Handling The Undead - Top Horror Movies 2024
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

Horror doesn’t always have to be loud and brash. It can come in quietly, falling over you like a fog. The quietness of human grief is its own trauma and horror, and capturing its multitudes is rife for storytelling. Handling the Dead (Hanteringen av odöda) takes on this challenge as it explores grief through a horror staple: zombies.

Based on the book by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Handling the Dead takes place in Oslo on a hot summer day as the dead rise. Told from the perspective of three families, Handling the Dead unpacks each one’s loss when their loved ones are returned to them. Instead of focusing on the gruesome nature of the undead, the film is more concerned with what it means for desperate families when their loved ones come back.

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Every character in Handling the Undead is passing through their grief or standing still in their own unique ways. Grief is not linear, and it’s not the same for everyone. In each of the representations, the audience is hollowed out. Accepting the death of the loved ones sitting in front of them is a process, some slower than others. Watching every character handle their undead is upsetting, uncomfortable, and, for those who have recently lost loved ones, sure to rub your nerves raw. It’s beautiful. Handling the Undead is able to find beauty and pain in the uncomfortable space of grief. The film crawls into the cavern left by loss and sits in it, pulling you further down.

Handling the Undead is a zombie film that puts the human before the spectacle. The horror of the film is the way that grief rips you apart, not how zombies do. This is built through action, not words. Instead of relying on heavy dialogue, the film uses something more visceral, showing the audience how each character reacts to their grief. This puts an enormous weight on the actors, and each one carries it extraordinarily well.

The two performances, however, that stand out the most are Renate Reinsve and Bente Børsum as Anna and Eva, respectively. Anna is a mother handling the loss of her son. When he returns, she sits on his bed, and the camera closes in on her face. Tears are streaming down her face as she oscillates between a smile and a pained grimace. The deteriorating body of her son is there. Elias is in front of her. But in one moment without words, Reinsve captures the pain of a mother seeing her grief made real. She is happy, scared, and hollow all at the same time.

For Børsum’s part, we see Eva get her partner (Olga Damani) ready one last time. She washes her, dresses her, and applies her makeup. It’s intimate and somber. Everything about seeing these two lovers together again with the knowledge that one may not be truly there is painful in the highest order. The film builds its drama and trauma in thin layers of intimate moments as every family desperately wants to be whole again.

Handling the Dead is a horror film, but it’s one that invests time in how terrifying and unsettling grief can be. Does a body mean more than a memory? Is letting go a second death or simply an understanding of the first? There is no clear answer, with each character taking their own path through their pain. That’s what makes it painfully impactful.

Handling the Undead screened as a part of Sundance 2024 and is set for distribution from NEON.

Handling the Undead
  • 9.5/10
    Rating - 9.5/10
9.5/10

TL;DR

Handling the Dead is a horror film, but it’s one that invests time in how terrifying and unsettling grief can be.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleSUNDANCE 2024: ’10 Lives’ Captures The Way Our Pets Love Us
Next Article REVIEW: ‘My Demon’ Episodes 15-16
Kate Sánchez
  • Website
  • X (Twitter)
  • Instagram

Kate Sánchez is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of But Why Tho? A Geek Community. There, she coordinates film, television, anime, and manga coverage. Kate is also a freelance journalist writing features on video games, anime, and film. Her focus as a critic is championing animation and international films and television series for inclusion in awards cycles. Find her on Bluesky @ohmymithrandir.bsky.social

Related Posts

Choi Gyu-ri, Shin Eun-Soo in Love Untangled
7.5

REVIEW: ‘Love Untangled’ Is Just Adorable

08/31/2025
Austin Butler in Caught Stealing
8.5

REVIEW: ‘Caught Stealing’ Marks An Exciting Pivot for Darren Aronofsky

08/27/2025
Margaret Qualley stars as Honey O' Donahue in the film Honey Don't
8.5

REVIEW: ‘Honey Don’t!’ Is A Genius Work Of Subversion And Fantasy Fulfillment

08/25/2025
Benedict Cumberbatch in The Roses But Why Tho
5.0

 REVIEW: ‘The Roses’ Lacks A Thorny Edge

08/25/2025
Mert Ramazan Demir in Abandoned Man
6.5

REVIEW: ‘Abandoned Man’ Lacks Depth In Its Take On Betrayal

08/22/2025
Ne Zha 2 promotional still from a24
10.0

REVIEW: ‘Ne Zha 2’ Is One Of The Most Epic Feats Of Animation

08/21/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
Cosmic Spider-Man card details Features

[EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW] The Spider-Man Set Gets A 5-Color Legendary Spider

By Kate Sánchez09/02/2025Updated:09/02/2025

An exclusive look at a new 5-Color Spider entering Magic: The Gathering’s Spider-Man set, and Cosmic Spider-Man is going to be a tough one to take on.

Hololive EN at Radio City Music Hall Events

Hololive EN At Radio City Music Hall Was A Pure Expression Of Fandom

By Adrian Ruiz08/31/2025Updated:09/03/2025

Hololive EN turned Radio City in New York City into the pure expression of fandom: chants, penlights, and community in perfect sync.

Foundation Season 3 Episode 8 promotional still from APple TV+
9.0
TV

RECAP: ‘The Foundation’ Season 3 Episode 8 — “Skin In The Game”

By Will Borger08/29/2025Updated:08/29/2025

Still barreling toward a knock-down, drag-out fight between Gaal and the Mule in Foundation Season 3 Episode 8 ups the stakes.

Karl Anthony Towns in NBA 2k26 But Why Tho
8.5
PS5

REVIEW: ‘NBA 2K26’ Brings Basketball To Life

By Kyle Foley09/03/2025

NBA 2K26 combines improved visuals with some important tweaks to keep the series feeling fresh in the latest yearly release.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here