Written and directed by leading actress Jamie Alvey, the bereaved wife of a teacher (Alvey) who died prematurely resorts to ritualistic magic to resurrect her beloved husband (Deaton Gabbard). The results have unintended bloody consequences.
Immediately, Jamie Alvey makes a fantastic point with Your Husband Was a Good Man which is that there’s a very strange social convention of implying that people should be grateful their partner or loved one was a good person, as if that’s a great comfort in times of grief. It has an undermining quality to the depth of their loss and yet it’s quite common. There is no real consolation for that type of grief, especially when that person’s life has been lost due to the cold, selfish actions of others.
It’s a nicely tense opening before quickly injecting strong horror vibes as it transitions to Orla’s (Jamie Alvey) home. There’s some nicely spooky colouring and camera angles that feel appropriately reminiscent of Night of the Living Dead, with hints of Paranormal Activity. It’s also an interesting change of pace to have it so smoothly move into the resurrection of her dead husband, there’s no big dramatic moment. With that choice being unusual it does also create a unique nature to the tone and how it shifts throughout Your Husband Was a Good Man. There’s an ominous air, but it’s blended with a mix of curiosity and darkness. A blend that’s rooted in the character’s love for her husband, blinding her to the severe consequences of her actions.
There are a lot of instances in horror where you’re questioning why a character would ever make those decisions, or baffled by completely illogical they are but Alvey doesn’t have that problem with Your Husband Was a Good Man because Orla’s grief and love explain everything, no matter how reckless. Alvey does a great job of capturing all of that within her performance, it holds that key feel of desperation, being entirely lost without her partner and drowning in the loss and having to raise their daughter alone. She then brings through that delusional hope while also giving the sense that the back of her mind is screaming at her all the things that could go wrong.
Deaton Gabbard’s brings an interesting initial positivity, Will is quite a perky character which is not your typical zombie persona. However, as his undead desires start to take over, it does feel like the performance is fairly on the nose. He can try too hard at times, relying on the physicality of his performance, which makes the darker side of things less convincing. The overall style can also land more within the everyday than expected, it’s a unique choice to come at the genre with an emotional, dramatic, leaning towards romantic perspective. Although, it perhaps doesn’t take the energy as high as it needed to go, which is also slightly hindered by some scenes being drawn out a little further than necessary.
Your Husband Was a Good Man is an interesting twist on the zombie genre, focusing more on the human element than the undead. Jamie Alvey uses it as a way to explore grief and loss, making it a story of family rather than simple death and destruction. It can move somewhat slowly and let scenes run on longer than needed but it holds an unusual mix of tones. Alvey brings through some great colouring and angle choices to bump up the spooky, gloomy atmosphere. It’s both familiar and original, and Alvey also gives a great, impassioned performance.
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