Since the death of her son Elias, Anna (Renate Reinsve) barely notices what Mahler (Bjørn Sundquist), her father, does for her. At the funeral home, Tora (Bente Børsum), an octogenarian, looks one last time at his deceased partner, Elisabet (Olga Damani). On her way to her lover David’s (Anders Danielsen Lie) comedy show, Eva (Bahar Pars) dies in a road accident.
While Oslo is sweltering under the heat, a storm causes a brief power outage. Weeping at his grandson’s grave, Mahler hears someone knocking under the earth. After digging him up, he takes the child home. At the same time, Elisabet returns to Tora’s bedside. Much to the surprise of David and their children, Flora (Inesa Dauksta) and Kian (Kian Hansen), Eva comes back to life in the hospital.
Certainly, the undead that appear in this melancholy horror drama are lethargic and disturbing. The more the story progresses, the more their behavior becomes irrational and threatening. Paralyzed by pain, everyone struggles to recognize the dearly departed who has miraculously returned to life.
Evoking Songs from the Second Floor, by Roy Andersson, with its twilight aesthetic and unusual atmosphere, as well as Repertoire of Disappeared Towns, by Denis Côté, based on the novel by Laurence Olivier, with its slow and hypnotic rhythm, Handling the Undead n It’s reminiscent of Les revenants, a French series by Fabrice Gobert, adapted from the film Les revenants, by Robin Campillo. However, the latter was strongly influenced by Let the Right One In, a novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, magnificently brought to the screen by Tomas Alfredson.
It is therefore not surprising to find in the credits of Handling the Undead the name of the Swedish author, who is writing the adaptation of his own novel with Thea Hvistendahl. After having delivered a powerful reflection on immortality and solitude by borrowing from the figure of the vampire, this time, it is that of the living dead that he summons. Heartbreaking like Nina Simone’s rendition of Ne me leave pas, by Jacques Brel, which haunts the film, the reflection on mourning and absence that this contemplative horror drama conveys is a daring reminder of the value of existence.