Names mean something. They hold power. Names withheld can create mystery and names known can open doors. They are the things that can be passed down from generation to generation — be it a surname, a given name, a middle name; be it a direct passing or honorarium — generating a sense of immortality for a lineage as it survives across centuries. But names are nothing if they have no one to go to. If there’s no new generation to acquire them, the power they accumulate dissipates like tears in the rain. Writer/director Glenn McQuaid’s (I Sell the Dead) latest project, The Restoration at Grayson Manor, having its world premiere at Fantastic Fest 2025, mixes familial melodrama and body horror as it excavates a family in crisis.
L-R: Chris Colfer as Boyd Grayson, Alice Krige as Jacqueline Grayson, and Matthew McMahon as John in THE RESTORATION AT GRAYSON MANOR. Photo courtesy of Bankside Films.
Gifted pianist Boyd Grayson (Chris Colfer) is the only heir to the Grayson name and he prefers to spend his time playing music and hooking up with men at the club he plays in. Matriarch Jacqueline Grayson (Alice Krige) grows ever more frustrated that Boyd refuses to give her a grandchild in order to pass down all that the Grayson family as acquired. During a regular barb-throwing argument, an accident results in Jacqueline’s near-death and Boyd’s double amputation in the act of saving her life. In order to ensure that her son receives the best care, Jacqueline hires a private care team of three to develop technologically advanced prosthetics which might give music back to Boyd, but something’s quickly amiss as the hands devised begin to act all on their own.
Alice Krige as Jacqueline Grayson in THE RESTORATION AT GRAYSON MANOR. Photo courtesy of Bankside Films.
Written by Clay McLeod Chapman (The Boy) and McQuaid, from a story by McQuaid, Grayson Manor beautifully masks its sincerity in the dramatic, creating a layered experience from production design to performance, each working in concert to bolster the whole. The titular manor, for instance, is in a slight state of disrepair, the landscaping positively immaculate (save for one patch of mulch), while the stonework around the grounds and the infrastructure of the house are in clear need of refurbishing. This last part isn’t just a general observation, but directly connected to the inciting incident of the tale as Jacqueline and Boyd’s deeply rooted resentment causes conflicting instructions which set the stage for calamity. Amid the house being showing in various transitional moments from scene to scene or even as background for character work, we observe a home of standing, of opulence, with paintings going back generations of Graysons who stare, either approvingly or mockingly, depending on one’s perspective, at the present actions of their progeny from their locked positions. The paintings themselves, though representative of the very lineage Jacquline seeks to maintain, are, themselves, not entirely well-maintained, creating the sensation of Jacqueline’s love of stature and presentation while daring not do the work herself to maintain it. This is not such a strange schism of thought as many long to enjoy the fruits of success without putting in the efforts to create or sustain them. Through the details, McQuaid transforms Grayson manor into a lived-in ancestorial tomb.
Between the sniping of Boyd and Jacqueline, one could easily mistake Grayson Manor for a dark comedy, even camp, but it’s too sincere for either of these subgenres. Underneath the goading is a deep pain and hurt on both sides — Boyd for never feeling accepted as he is and being reduced to progenitor of a legacy; Jacqueline for being unable to fulfill her perceived responsibility as a mother and Grayson heir. The dialogue between them is hilarious, both Colfer (Struck by Lightning; Glee) and Krige (Star Trek: First Contact; Silent Hill) deliciously evil in their spiteful delivery, but there’s always a present undercurrent of anguish for the things that can never be. It makes the rising tension throughout the film heavy and disquieting as we recognize that the conflict between them isn’t an easy resolve as neither are prepared to recede ground to the other even a millimeter. What clearly separates Grayson Manor from camp is that nothing is elevated beyond circumstance. The set design, the costuming, the production design, and the performances are given no exaggeration indicative of the subgenre; rather, Grayson Manor maintains an even keel even as the characters all start to unravel within the scope of the narrative. For instance, the introduction of the three-person team to Boyd seems him greeting them with terrible disdain which is solely reciprocated on the part of Claudia (Gabriela Garcia Vargas). This is taken as odd given her job to help nurse Boyd to health out of his traumatic incident so as to become strong enough to attempt Doctor Tannock’s (Daniel Adegboyega) experimental procedure, but it fits right into the notion that appearances seek to deceive what lies underneath — just as one would perceive a wealthy, established family coming up to the manor until they got up close. Nothing is exaggerated for the sake of it; rather, all the heightened elements fit naturally within the existing energy that courses through the grounds: malice-atop-ache. This is why it’s melodrama and not camp — the reactions are performative, but the dialogue and their intentions are not. This is made plain by the juxtaposition of the medical team (Tannock, Claudia, and Lee (Declan Reynolds)) and the Graysons with the actions and dialogue of one (medical team) typically measured and offering appropriate reasons to whatever the situation is compared to those of the Graysons who are almost entirely at an 11 the entire film. Truly, though, if not for Colfer and Krige’s ability to spit venom with judicious accuracy, the whole of the picture would fail to possess the weight it requires to achieve its intention.
L-R: Chris Colfer as Boyd Grayson and Alice Krige as Jacqueline Grayson in THE RESTORATION AT GRAYSON MANOR. Photo courtesy of Bankside Films.
One minor thing to address is that the body horror here doesn’t come from the place you expect. Body horror, in general terms, is about transformation, usually involving the deterioration or destruction of the human body. Here, the obvious jump is toward Boyd’s double amputation and the use of technology to regain dexterity and the rouge actions of the nanotech-driven mechanical hands Tannock builds. It’s never about the hands, however, and more about the means to an end that they represent, which reduces Boyd from person with autonomy into a role as heir apparent. Much in the same way we’ve seen horror films utilize the removal of bodily autonomy with women, McQuaid uses Boyd, his mother the cruel arbiter of his fate under the guise of maternal care.
Chris Colfer as Boyd Grayson in THE RESTORATION AT GRAYSON MANOR. Photo courtesy of Bankside Films.
There is a brutal audaciousness that permeates The Restoration at Grayson Manor. It’s present in the way Jacqueline reacts to Boyd’s subconscious action to save her life, in the way that Jacqueline attempts to help her son, and the way that Boyd responds to that assistance. There is no measure by which either party is innocent, inflicting pain on others. “Restoration” implies a healing or repair, but there’s another meaning that speaks directly to the undercurrent of the film, continued lineage, and that’s where tension doesn’t exist because things occur as-expected. However, the final moments of the film not only address this resultant expected thing, they do so with the kind of melodramatic flourish that’ll have your jaw on the floor and your hands clapping in delight all while your eyes are staring in astonishment at Colfer and Krige’s respective performances. It not only beautifully caps off the film as a whole, but serves as a reminder that some restorations are best treated with napalm.
Screening during Fantastic Fest 2025.
For more information, head to the official Fantastic Fest The Restoration at Grayson Manor webpage.
Final Score: 4 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
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