Grief is many things, uniquely indescribable and specific to us all. For British author Max Porter, in his lauded, no-bullshit, deeply personal novella, it’s a thing with feathers. Specifically, a giant, hulking, wheezing crow ready to read your inner pain to filth as clichéd, unoriginal.

In his formidable debut feature, director Dylan Southern adapts Porter's book into a moving drama that gnaws on loss through the hallmarks of horror. It's by no means the first film to lean on terror to explore grief — Pet Sematary , The Babadook , Talk to Me , the list is long. However, with a raw, anguished performance by Benedict Cumberbatch and production design that makes walls literally bleed ink, The Thing with Feathers will pluck at your heartstrings while threatening to devour th

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