Australia/US | 2020 | Directed by Natalie Erika James
Logline: A daughter, mother, and grandmother are haunted by an insidious manifestation of dementia that consumes their family's home.
Kay (Emily Mortimer) and her adult daughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) arrive at the old family home where mother Edna (Robyn Nevin) had been living on her own. Until she vanished. The house is unkempt, in a state of slow decay, with the elderly woman’s Post-It notes scattered throughout, reminding her what needs doing. Dementia has seized the house, and all who reside within cannot escape its insidious clutches, one way or another.
Edna inexplicably returns a few days later, but she’s far from herself, becoming increasingly erratic in her behaviour, even volatile. Daughter and granddaughter struggle to deal with the situation, at once happy that she’s back, but deeply concerned about her mental health, not to mention their own, as a dark presence within the house becomes more oppressive, affecting their own reality, leading them deeper into the labyrinthine paths of unhinged perception.
Australian director and co-writer James delivers a stunning debut feature, having made a few shorts, and it is her direction, both mise-en-scene and the performances of her small central cast, that really stand out. The nightmarish atmosphere is palpable, especially in the movie’s second half as Sam becomes trapped within the (super)natural confines of the house. There is a terrific chemistry between the three women, and the age dynamic works brilliantly also (even though Mortimer is only fifteen years older than Heathcote in real life).
It’s a slow-burner, but it emanates strong from the start, the dark embers smouldering, blackening everything they touch. It’s a very deliberate metaphor movie, like The Babadook, but it doesn’t pull its punch like Jennifer Kent’s movie, it doesn’t suddenly pull the rug either. The clues are there throughout, lurking in the shadows, slithering under the bed. It also doesn’t cheapen its fright impact with jump scares, whilst remaining profoundly unnerving. Think Hereditary, think The Witch, think It Follows.
Relic is one of those rare crossover horror movies. I hate the term “elevated horror”, but this is a movie that keeps much of the nightmarish essence of a great horror movie - one for the True Believers - whilst providing intrigue and appeal to those that normally wouldn’t watch a horror movie. Of course, it will polarise as well, as movies of this ilk do. Many so-called horror fans will probably find it anaemic and uneventful, others will criticise it for trying to be clever.
The symbolic nuances, the depth of character, the strong score from Brian Reitzell, the deliberately washed-out cinematography from Charlie Saroff, they all add to the movie’s overall atmosphere, the element so integral to horror, and one that the best horror directors understand is absolutely paramount. If an atmosphere is powerful enough, it informs the narrative, permeates all themes, it lingers in the cracks of the mind, just enough to keep scratching away at your psyche, and forms that oneirdynia serpent devouring its own tail, as the edges of your sight begin to fail.