9 films that inspired Paris Zarcilla’s Raging Grace

Hello esteemed members of the Letterboxd community! I’m Paris Zarcilla, writer and director of my debut feature, RAGING GRACE, out now in US theaters (beginning December 1st) and in UK cinemas on December 29th!

I’m excited to get a chance to talk about the film's influences because RAGING GRACE is a very blended genre film that walks proudly as a thriller, dark dramedy and horror. It was truly written from a place of rage but it’s a film that rages differently from what the word evokes and it’s a horror in unexpecting and untraditional ways. Many people ask me why I chose the lens of horror to talk about undocumented domestic workers. Unfortunately, many immigrant experiences are horrific which go unnoticed and unheard but it’s why I’ll always love genre because it has given many of us the tools to entertainingly confront nuanced issues with a megaphone. This is my coming of rage.

May you all find a way to rage gracefully.

Much love, Paris.

Check out the full list on Horrorville here.

The Servant - Joseph Losey
From top to bottom this film is a masterpiece. An unobvious horror film about class and power that seethes with quiet rage and delirium as it confronts class division. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite get the same praise of other films released in the same year (81⁄2, High and Low, The Birds). There’s a rot at the core of both Barrett (Dirk Bogarde) and Tony (James Fox) who, for me, represent the disillusionment of a classist and entitled society beginning to feel the broken promises of the British empire. This rot is also at the core of my antagonists Catherine and Mr. Garrett (intentional name similarity).

Shaking Tokyo (short film) - Bong Joon Ho
This is an extraordinary short by director Bong. It's a display of beautifully executed camera work and cinematic craftsmanship. It's a masterclass in shot economy. This was the film where my brain cells began to understand the importance of pacing and rhythm and how it can be informed by my shot choices. I’ve put it into practice with everything I’ve done since. Due to our small budget, my shot choreography had to be precise and economic and from a stylistic point informed the rhythm onscreen as opposed to in the edit. Thanks to this film, I’ve become a far more considered filmmaker.

Rebecca - Alfred Hitchcock
Big, fuck-off, gothic semi-haunted mansion. Yes, please.

Fanny and Alexander - Ingmar Bergman
After watching the 312 min version, I remember sitting in the dark ruminating on the profound experience I just had. This film influenced me so much to the point I had to rewrite an early draft of Raging Grace because it was a kindergarten-level rewrite of Acts 4 and 5. If anything, this film gave me the permission to end my film with the warmth of joy and celebration, and the importance of reclaiming it in dark times.

Roma - Alfonso Cuaron
This was the first time I saw a film that treated a character - who is often no more than a prop in the background of films - with extraordinary grace and tenderness. The main character reminded me so much of my own mother whose experience of working as a cleaner and caretaker in family homes influenced the story of Raging Grace. Roma revealed the fragility of an upper-middle class family held together by their live-in domestic caretaker, Cleo. I winced at the ways Cleo would receive the affection of the budding children, even being considered a family member, juxtaposed with poetic yet piercing visual reminders that she is still an employee of the house.

The Changeling - Peter Medak
Big, fuck-off, gothic, haunted mansion. Yes, please.

Matilda - Danny DeVito
I've said this close to a thousand times already but the scene where Matilda and Miss Honey narrowly escape Miss Trunchball’s house is a master class in tension building. I watched far too many horrors as a kid but there was something in the DNA of this scene that terrified me more than any other films. Devito managed to encapsulate the terror of being caught in a place you absolutely shouldn't be in or don't belong to. These were constantly recurring themes in my film especially for the main characters, Joy and Grace. But what influenced me the most in this scene was the sublime balance of comedy and terror. Giving an audience that feeling of wanting to laugh at the most inappropriate moment and giving them permission to do so is just masterful, *chefs kiss* work.

Nobody Knows - Hirokazu Koreeda
I remember having to pause halfway through the film because it actually felt like my heart was breaking. Koreeda is constantly stress testing the family dynamic in all his films and in Nobody Knows he puts the sibling relationship through the trials. This is no horror film by any account yet I still watched this through the gaps of my fingers. The casual abandonment of these children gave me chills. For me, this subtle kind of horror really influenced Raging Grace’s cinematic language that led to keeping my frames bold but simple, leaving room for the protagonists' nuances and complexities to sing.

The Others - Alejandro Amenábar
Big, fuck-off, gothic, haunted mansion with Nicole Kidman. Yes, please.

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