Handling the Undead
Neon | Release Date: May 31, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The PlaylistCharles BarfieldJan 26, 2024
The devastatingly bleak story of Handling the Undead is a wrenching but beautiful exploration of grief and human connection in the face of something horrific. Read full review
90
VarietyGuy LodgeJan 21, 2024
Full of frail, mortal feeling and overcast last-days imagery, Handling the Undead lingers coolly in the bones longer than many zombie films that offer more immediate, grisly gratification. Read full review
85
The Daily BeastNick SchagerJan 21, 2024
A zombie film unlike any other, focused less on mayhem than on grief, loss, and the quiet, tragic terror begat by the dead’s return. Read full review
83
Original-CinKaren GordonMay 29, 2024
There aren’t zombies rampaging through Norwegian director Thea Hvistendahl’s quiet film. Instead, the spare, slow-paced, thoughtful film is an affecting story about coping with grief. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyJan 21, 2024
The strong cast and distinctive approach to a widely trafficked subgenre make it a soulful rumination on loss. Read full review
76
Paste MagazineJacob OllerFeb 5, 2024
In making its characters physically confront their heartbreak, Handling the Undead becomes one of the saddest, most contemplative zombie movies ever made. Read full review
70
The New York TimesAlissa WilkinsonMay 30, 2024
There are times when the film veers too near the maudlin for comfort, but it always finds its way back to something spare and meaningful. Read full review
70
Film ThreatAlan NgFeb 7, 2024
Handling the Undead is more of a philosophical journey than a survival journey. Read full review
70
Screen RantGraeme GuttmannFeb 2, 2024
Handling the Under is not an effective horror movie, but its zombie-drama formula allows for a portrait of pain that settles in and stays like an infection. Read full review
70
Screen DailyAmber WilkinsonJan 21, 2024
Hvistendahl gives her ensemble time and space to deliver the conflicted emotions they are feeling, a mixture of shock and longing playing out on their faces and in their movements. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comKatie RifeMay 31, 2024
Thanks to all this brittle emotion, Hvistendahl’s film is absorbing, even captivating at times. But it moves at a pace that can be charitably described as “measured.” Read full review
60
ColliderRoss BonaimeJan 30, 2024
It's a deliberately-paced drama with some decent performances and a gorgeously dark aesthetic, but lacks the time or effort to give these stories what they need. Read full review
60
The GuardianBenjamin LeeJan 24, 2024
It works in parts, as a study of the ache and irrationality of grief, asking its characters how much they’re willing to accept and deny in order to see their loved ones again. But the first-time director Thea Hvistendahl’s patience-insisting slow burn can be testing, like watching a block of ice slowly melt, a story told in the smallest of drips, some of which sink in deeper than others. Read full review
58
The Film StageDan MeccaJan 29, 2024
Despite some devoted performances and interesting formal choices, its endgame is rather rote. That the film is quieter and more deliberate in getting there doesn’t make it any less cliche. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineSteven ScaifeJan 29, 2024
For how committed it is to convincing the audience of the profundity of a rudimentary point, the film’s measured pacing comes to feel like a kind of torture. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubBrent SimonJun 7, 2024
There’s a genuine sense of lived-in sadness here, but it isn’t enough to elevate the proceedings into something special or compelling. Read full review
42
ConsequenceMary SirokyJan 30, 2024
Unfortunately, the 99-minute run time on Norwegian zombie drama Handling the Undead feels infinitely longer, and lands more as a meditation on grief than an intriguing entry into zombie cinema. Read full review
More From This Movie

70 Critic Reviews

tbd User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL