Relic is the feature film debut of director Natalie Erika James, and she comes out of the gate with a phenomenal horror thriller. Emily Mortimer and Bella Heathcote are a mother and daughter, respectively, who venture out to check on their mother/grandmother played by Robyn Nevin. When the two arrive at the house they notice its resident is missing and some eerie things happen little by little. This film does great in the beginning, building suspense of what is happening in this house and developing characters that are interesting and connected to the point you care what is happening to them. Bella Heathcote learns about a neighboring child who found themselves locked in a room in the house for several hours and later finds herself in the same room. That is when things get good or deteriorate depending on the viewer. If you are expecting the house to be alive or some scary monster to crawl out of the shadows, you’ll still be waiting as this movie goes into a much more psychological horror tone. Robyn Nevin gives a stellar performance as this aging mother/grandmother who can be sane and conversational then switch gears to go ranting mad as this character is the key to the whole movie which plays into Dementia and the effects it has on an individual and their loved ones. My main gripes with this movie is that it feels shot too dark during some scenes and trying to see what is occurring or trying to read some post-it notes around the house can be difficult and the other is when the film gets into what the house is capable of it almost seems to adapt conveniently to the situations it needs to for the film to get from A-B though I could get past that because of the investment early on with the development of the characters. The ending is one of the most cringeworthy yet impactful moments of cinema I have seen this year. If you buy a ticket or streaming access expecting for what it is more of a psychological horror movie than creature horror, which I can see from the trailer how that might assumption may happen, then I think you're in for a suspenseful unnerving night at the movies. B.
