Claire Yang (Michelle Krusiec) a worker at CPS, and her police officer husband, Peter (Ken Kirby) spend a somber evening recounting the memory of their dead son.

The ghost is shown performing a variety of tasks including tossing Sophie into a closet, and forcing Audrey’s hand onto a knife.

Claire sees Lucas’ ghost and suffers quietly while her husband lashes out at work including assaulting a man in custody.

The visions put Claire into a catatonic state and she wakes up in the hospital next to a woman named Ada, who gives her life advice.

At home she dumps all her pills down the sink and moves back into her bedroom from the closet before calling Peter and saying she wants to tell him everything, inviting him over that night.

[3][4] Matt Donato of Paste wrote, "They Live in the Grey is a modest indie with thematic layers and evergreen mortal dread that could use two or three more editing bay passes.

At times, They Live in the Grey can feel bisected between Claire’s paranormal home life and Sophie’s possible abuse, made worse by the Vangs’ choice to ditch linear storytelling for sometimes unnoticeable chronological leaps.

It’s a courageous approach to relatable horrors that foolishly fails to keep things simple—one that desperately requires more focus to let Claire’s introspective gravedance truly shine.

"[5] Leslie Felperin of The Guardian stated, "They Live in the Grey is another classy effort on the Shudder streaming platform, properly scary and thoughtfully constructed, with unusual editing and framing sleights of hand..."[6]