Relic (2020) - REVIEW
"This house seems unfamiliar."
Relic is a psychological horror film from Japanese-Australian filmmaker Natalie Erika James in her staggeringly impressive directorial debut. Though the film definitely takes influence from other horror titles that rely on themes of family trauma – Relic eventually evolves and takes upon a much more optimistic, yet still haunting, outlook on the dilemma itself.
The film centers on three generations of women within a family that hasn’t kept great ties with one another – catalyzing the events of the film. When Kay (Emily Mortimer) hears news of her mother Edna’s (Robyn Nevin) decreasing mental health and disappearance – she takes it upon herself and her daughter, Sam (Bella Heathcote), to investigate this occurrence in a more detailed manner. Instead of finding an elderly woman with a typical case of dementia, Sam and Kay’s world is brought into the depths of despair as they attempt to navigate the maze of what remains of Edna’s mental state; paranoia, fear, and desperation.
The following events unfold in a narratively stereotypical horror fashion with increasingly ominous occurrences taking place within the house but the execution itself is brilliantly done by James. It has been quite a while since I have really felt that good “old fashioned” horror scare – and not in a derivative sense either. Just straight horror using simple camera tricks and low budget scares. But though the scares may be consistent, along with the grimy tone that James stuffs down the viewer’s throat, so are the mundane moments in between. In Ari Aster’s brilliant Hereditary – he uses an inciting incident within the first act of the film to drive the narrative forward as the audience is consistently engaged from that point on. In Relic, that incident itself is missing and thus leaves the audience scrambling to pick up the pieces – some that aren’t even necessarily vital to the film and ends up feeling like “padding” by the end.
The concept of “family trauma” horror is one that is becoming more prevalent lately – especially with the success of 2018’s Hereditary and we can see many films follow this path with varying levels of success. The Lodge released earlier this year to a bumbling disappointment, and it felt like it had nothing to say; full of tense moments that kept spiraling narratively until it became an illogical mess that didn’t know what to do with itself. Luckily, Relic strays far away from this with a bit shorter runtime and a relatively more focused narrative and it’s greatest advantage is that it knows the movie it wants to be. Brian Reitzell does a great job scoring the film and really nails that tone James was going for – especially by that final shot.
And by the end, Relic is a competent and unique horror film in many regards but it is severely lacking a form factor that separates it from the best of the genre. Though the “otherworldly” climax is beautiful and will resonate with those who are looking for it – I needed more, or less, from a narrative standpoint to establish this finale in the first place. It’s quite a beautiful and surreal ending and the direction James takes is one I personally loved; I just wish it felt more earned by fleshing out the tender side of the relationship between Kay and Edna a bit more. Nonetheless, it’s worth a watch for the horror itself, the great cast, and its brilliant practical effect work.
I’m looking forward to what Natalie Erika James will put out next.
