Horror
movies are usually about monsters, but in real life, nothing is scarier than
family. That is particularly and tragically so when age and disease turn family
members into strangers. Kay assumes her mother is succumbing to a conventional
form of dementia, but there are uncanny forces at work in Natalie Erika James’ Relic,
which screened during the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
Kay
and her daughter Sam have rushed out to her mother’s home, after her neighbors called
with their concerns. Old Edna has not been seen for days and she does answer
their calls. It turns out she is legitimately missing rather than dead or incapacitated
inside. In fact, she will suddenly turn up again, apparently oblivious to all
the fuss she caused. That should be all fine and good, but Edna is acting a
little weird. After her reappearance, she exhibits a bit of a mean streak. She
also says some slightly unsettling things. In fact, some of her crazy talk
suggests there is some sort of malevolent supernatural business going on in the
house, which could well be the case, given the fact this is a horror movie.
In
fact, the house itself turns out to be a spectacular work of genre set and
production design, but it would be spoilery to explain how. In any event, Relic
is quite thematically and stylistically compatible with James’ impressive
short film Creswick, so hopefully some programmers will have the vision
and latitude to pair them together. Clearly, both films demonstrate James
talent for crafty a moody horror atmosphere, as well as her interest in telling
more ambitious stories through the genre.
Robyn
Nevin’s performance as Edna is pretty harrowing, in more ways than one. As a
result, it is easy to sympathize and identify with the grounded and believable
work of Emily Mortimer and Bella Heathcote, as Kayn and Sam, respectively. Much
of the attention Relic has garnered focused on Nevin, but the film also
deserves credit for featuring Down Syndrome actor Chris Bunton as Jamie, the
neighbor’s son, and portraying his friendship with Sam in such relaxed, matter-of-fact
terms. We totally believe they are old pals, which is cool.
Horror
fans need to stay patient with this one. The first half of Relic feels
pretty standard-issue, but it is really setting up a wild turn around the
halfway mark. It turns into something really scary and also some legitimately
cool cinema craftmanship. It is definitely worth the time investment. Highly
recommended for horror fans, Relic is sure to be selected by numerous
genre festivals after screening during the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
