Handling the Undead

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Handling the Undead

R

2024

1h 37m

Horror

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

75%

Tomatometer

83 Reviews

42%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

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.

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Critics Consensus

A grounded zombie picture with emotional bite, Handling the Undead shuffles along at a patient pace but succeeds as a poignant and thoughtful addition to the genre.

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Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

Jun 9, 2024

3.5/4

Hvistendahl treats the audience with respect, her and Lindqvist’s reworking of the latter’s source material respectful, intelligent, and overflowing in empathy.

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Randy Myers

San Jose Mercury News

Jun 6, 2024

3/4

Composer Peter Raeburn’s beautifully sad soundtrack along with Pål Ulvik Rokseth’s cinematography contribute to creating a tragic mood that’s hard to let go of after the film’s sad conclusion.

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Brent Simon

AV Club

Jun 6, 2024

C-

The cooking comparison for Handling the Undead would be a sauce that’s broken, its elements having separated. There’s a genuine sense of lived-in sadness here, but this would-be elegy doesn't offer quite enough mesmeric insights to justify its somberness.

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David Bax

Battleship Pretension

Dec 13, 2025

Maybe it’s in keeping with the Norwegian personality to have such muted reactions to such drastic events; would your response to the return of a dead loved one be to silently light up a cigarette?

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Dave Giannini

Geek Vibes Nation

Jul 19, 2025

9/10

Hvistendahl trusts her audience and the rewards, though complex and difficult to detail, are clearly apparent.

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Julian Singleton

Cinapse

Jul 11, 2025

As its title implies, it’s a film whose mute, unwavering specters mine our uncomfortable responses from their presence alone. It’s up to us to understand what those messy emotions say about us, and to divine if we can live with them as well.

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Robert P

@Superbad Oct 9, 2026

Handling The Undead is a *3* star Movie!

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Sean B

@DarkMagus Jul 14, 2026

Very subdued examination of grief. The movie allows the viewer to wrestle with the emotions and conundrums that such an event would inspire.

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Leslie S

@Birdie39 Jun 8, 2026

Very slow and extremely boring. I tried watching it 3 times and can not get past 52 minutes. Almost 3 hours of my life I can't get back. No idea how folks are rating it 3-5 stars unless they didn't watch it A 30 second shot of a table and its settings and buttering toast for a less than 2 second snap of the jaws on forced fed toast. Ridiculous

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Claudio C

@Claudio666 Oct 25, 2025

Håndtering av udøde / Handling the Undead (2024) A Dramatic Zombie Movie (12,012 – 24 Oct 2025– by Claudio Carvalho) If you want to read my review, visit my blog. RT mysteriously did not publish it and I refuse to change it. I do not understand why. My vote is six. Title (Brazil): “Descanse em Paz” (“Rest In Peace”) My Blog: https://maniacosporfilme.wordpress.com/

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Me A

@RT76032046 May 5, 2025

This movie was surprisingly poignant and made me cry towards the end.. it is definitely not what thrill seekers and zombie enthusiasts would be interested in. It was cerebral.. the basic message is you have to let go of your dead loved ones before they consume you. Definitely worth a watch.. and yes I do agree that it was a little too slow at times and I would have loved more character development, but what it lacked in verbal communication it made up for in emotional depth. Coming to terms with devastating loss is dreadful but necessary.

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Matthew S

@RT52180973 Mar 25, 2025

I get grief can be horrific, but in my opinion this is a drama, not a horror movie. Good acting, not bad plot, but god is it excruciatingly slow. I would probably have a different opinion if it was labeled a drama and I knew what I was getting into.

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Synopsis

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.

Director: Thea Hvistendahl
Producer: Kristin Emblem, Guri Neby
Screenwriter: John Ajvide Lindqvist, Thea Hvistendahl
Distributor: NEON
Production Co: Einar Film
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Norwegian
Release Date (Theaters): May 31, 2024, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 18, 2024
Box Office (Gross USA): $19.7K
Runtime: 1h 37m

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