Warning! Spoilers ahead for Hold Your Breath.
Hold Your Breathdirectors Will Joines and Karrie Crouse address the Grey Man’s origins in their new thriller movie. Released on Hulu on October 3,Hold Your Breathstars Sarah Paulsonas Margaret, a mother in 1930s Oklahoma attempting to protect her children from a sinister force she believes hides within devastating dust storms. This sinister force is, of course, the Grey Man, a mythical being that enters a person’s body through the dust and makes them do “terrible things.”
In a recent interview withScreen Rant, Joines and Crouse reveal more details about the Grey Man inHold Your Breathand where the idea to incorporate this monster originated. According to Joines,the idea for the Grey Man has its origins in the “Southern folk tales” that he grew up with, with Crouse adding that it was important to them that there be questions regarding whether the mysterious being is real or imagined by the characters. Check out the comments from Joines and Crouse below:
Will Joines: You know, Karrie and I are both from North Carolina, and come from a long line of horrifying Southern folk tales that are horrifying, but are created with an instructive angle, like small morality tales to keep children from doing X, Y or Z. My personal one was Raw Head and Bloody Bones, so that we wouldn’t go down to the river and drown behind my grandma’s house.
Karrie Crouse: Yeah, I think for us, it became a metaphor, The Grey Man. But very much we want the viewer to question that along the way. I very much have a sense of how everything could be grounded in reality, but I do hope that it’s up for grabs for the viewer.
What The Uncertainty About The Grey Man Means For Hold Your Breath
How The Film Fared With Critics
Throughout the film, Margaret is determined to protect her children from the Grey Man at any cost, and it soon becomes clear that Wallace Grady (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), a mysterious drifter, could be him. However, it’s also established thatMargaret is prone to sleepwalking, and she can sometimes be confused regarding the boundary between her sleeping life and her waking life. The uncertainty regarding the Grey Man and Margaret’s state of mind is sustained essentially throughout the film, andHold Your Breath’s endingdoesn’t provide a definitive answer.
Every Sarah Paulson American Horror Story Character, Ranked By Likability
Sarah Paulson has been a part of almost every American Horror Story season, and we’re here to determine which of her characters are the best.
This ambiguity is evidently not working for all viewers, however. As of writing, the film has only a 41% onRotten Tomatoes, indicating a generally negative consensus from critics. TheHold Your Breathreviewspraise Paulson’s powerful and tragic lead performance, but take issue with the film’s lack of major scares and propulsive energy. Though the ambiguity regarding the Grey Man is a key part of the narrative and of Margaret’s decline, it also seems to have resulted in a film that doesn’t totally fulfill the requirements of its genre.
Other cast members inHold Your Breathinclude: Amiah Miller, Alona Jane Robbins, Annaleigh Ashford, Arron Shiver, and Bill Heck.
Our Take On The Grey Man In Hold Your Breath
Hold Your Breath Features Some Strong Ideas
The dust storms of 1930s Oklahoma serve as a great setting for a psychological thriller, and the premise is intriguing. Wallace, from Margaret’s point of view, is the physical manifestation of the Grey Man, butthe unreliability of Margaret’s point of view means the entire narrative can be called into question, depending on how one watches the film. ThoughHold Your Breathisn’t all that scary, it has a few effective moments of intensity and dread, and the Grey Man, if nothing else, remains an interesting idea for a villain.
Hold Your Breath
Cast
In 1930s Oklahoma, during the devastating dust storms, a woman becomes convinced that a sinister presence is threatening her family.
