On October 16, join us for a screening of the Norwegian zombie thriller Handling the Undead, a “meditative, mind-shattering experience that gets under your skin” (Fort Worth Report) adapted from the 2005 novel by Let the Right One In author John Ajvide Lindqvist.
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? A family is faced with the mother’s reawakening before they have even mourned her death after a car accident; an elderly woman gets the love of her life back the same day she has buried her; a grandfather rescues his grandchild from the gravesite in a desperate attempt to get his daughter out of her depression. Handling the Undead is a drama with elements of horror about three families, a story about grief and loss, but also about hope and understanding of what we can’t comprehend or control.
“Handling the Undead … eschews any of the practical questions, but with a more humanist intent: to lean single-mindedly into its characters’ emotions — and also its eerie mythical resonance” (Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times)
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Thea Hvistendahl grew up in Norway and was first inspired to become a director on seeing the David Lynch film Mulholland Drive. Her credits include Virgins4Lyfe (short, SXSW), Children of Satan (short, Winner of the Méliès d’Argent Award at Sitges) and her long-form hybrid film The Monkey and the Mouth (Göteborg International Film Festival) which premiered in Norwegian cinemas in 2017. The film blends concert, fiction, and music video and marked the end of a big musical project from Norway’s leading rap-duo, Karpe. Handling the Undead is Hvistendahls debut feature.