371. Relic; movie review

 

RELIC

Cert 15

89 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong threat, horror, bloody images

I am aware of plenty of reviews lauding the freshness and excitement of Natalie Erika James's debut feature Relic.

Consequently, I was left to presume that this was the only haunted house horror the writers have ever seen.

Or did they simply wanted to please Jake Gyllenhaal who is unexpectedly listed as one of the movie's producers?

To be fair,  there are a couple of interesting nuances. The movie has an all-female cast, it addresses the subject of dementia and has an original ending.

Relic stars Emily Mortimer as Kay, the 40-something daughter of a tough old woman (Robyn Nevin) who lives alone in a creepy old home.

Her mum, who has been showing signs of dementia, hasn't been responding to the phone so Kay and her daughter (Bella Heathcote) drive over, fearing the worst.

They discover an untidy house with the odd patch of mould but apparently empty. Yep, she has disappeared.

So, they spend a couple of days working with the police trying to track her down while staying at a house which becomes progressively scarier.

When she finally re-emerges, there is clearly something very strange about granny.

I was left wondering whether Relic has been lauded because film-watchers are so desperate for something they perceive as half-decent in this ghastly year.

I am afraid I cannot be persuaded so easily and wasn't able to see much past a couple of slight diversions from horrors which have been witnessed so often before.

Indeed, from the moment the camera looked down on the car driving down the empty tree-lined road I knew I was in for cliche after cliche.

Yawn.

Reasons to watch: All-female horror

Reasons to avoid: Not very scary

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: Bare bum

Overall rating: 4.5/10

Did you know? Before becoming famous, Emily Mortimer wrote a weekly column in the Daily Telegraph, based on a fictionalised version of her life as an actress trying to make it in London.

The final word. Natalie Erika James: "It came from a really personal place. My grandmother had Alzheimer’s for quite a number of years before she passed, and I guess a lot of it was my own personal observations. It also involved the way her relationship with my own mother shifted over time." Flickering Myth

 

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