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Relic
Australia / USA 2020
produced by Jake Gyllenhaal, Riva Marker, Anna McLeish, Sarah Shaw, Mike Larocca (executive), Todd Makurath (executive), Anthony Russo (executive), Joe Russo (executive), Angela Russo-Otstot (executive) for AGBO, Carver Films, Nine Stories Productions
directed by Natalie Erika James
starring Emily Mortimer, Robyn Nevin, Bella Heathcote, Jeremy Stanford, Chris Bunton, Christina O'Neill, Catherine Glavicic, Steve Rodgers, John Browning, Robin Northover
written by Natalie Erika James, Christian White, music by Brian Reitzell, prosthetic makeup by Danielle Ruth
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Kay (Emily Mortimer) receives a call that her mother Edna (Robyn Nevin)
has gone missing, so she and her daughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) drive out
to Edna's home to investigate - and find that Edna hasn't been home
several days judging from the rotten fruits, but apart from things feeling
slightly off, there's no trace what could have happened. Kay reports
Edna's disappearance to the police, and a search party is formed, but to
little avail. But when all hope seems to be lost, Edna's suddenly back
without any explanation. She's very vague about where she has been, and
other things Kay learns about her behaviour of late make her things that
she might just be suffering from dementia, so she and Sam decide to stay
for a few days, and maybe get her into an old folks home. Now sure, Edna
still seems physically fit enough to support herself, but mentally is
another issue altogether - and that's probably best exemplified when she
one day gifts her wedding ring to Sam, and the next day accusing her of
theft and almost breaking her finger to get it back. Thing is, Edna is
behaving more and more erratically, over the next few days, like when she
first wants to eat up, later bury a photo album full of memories - and
what's with her eventually starting to self-harm. It really gets bad
though when she ... well, starts to skin, really, and when she does, she
grows violent towards Kay, while at the same time Sam gets stuck in the
attic that turns out to be an elaborate maze made all the more dangerous
by the fact that the laws of nature don't apply anymore ... Now
this is a slowburn film, and for at least the first part it seems to be
more of a slightly creepy drama of a family dealing with the matriarch's
evolving dementia - but things really come to a head in the third
act when the film manages to subvert audience expectations with a gusto
and moves towards body horror and surrealism ... and somehow that makes
total sense as in retrospect enough clues were dropped to maybe not
anticipate this but be prepared for it. And one of the most ingenious
strokes about this one is that it actually ... doesn't explain away
anything, leaves everything (including character backstories) open to
interpretation, and thus hits home on a deep level that mere jump scares
basically never could. And of course, a genre savvy yet not
spectacle-prone directorial effort helps a lot here to make this one
spooky ride one won't forget all that soon ...
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