The Grandmother (2022)

The Grandmother is supernatural horror cinema that drags the viewer into a universe of Afro-Caribbean occultism presented with brutal realism. The film does not merely aim to scare: it builds its horror upon the real practice of Palo, a syncretic religion that blends Catholic elements with pagan spiritualism. The problem is not merely narrative but spiritual: the protagonist, instead of returning to the faith of her childhood, delves deeper into the rituals that caused her family's torment, shedding her own blood and desecrating her grandmother's corpse in search of a magical solution.

The violence is intense and disturbing: worms that perforate the skin from within, demonic possession with brutal murders, desecration of corpses. The production design meticulously details the occult elements (skulls, dolls, sacrifices), which transforms the screen into a catalog of paganism without a clear Christian filter.

The moral conclusion is ambiguous: though it is hinted that resorting to false gods was the original error, the film never shows an arc of conversion or definitive rejection of those practices. For a Catholic parent, this is not discernible entertainment: it is explicit exposure to occultism without the light of the Gospel to condemn it. Not recommended.