Relic is set to be released on July 10th, and with the likes of Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo serving as producers alongside Spider-Man: Far From Home's Jake Gyllenhaal, there's understandably a lot of buzz surrounding Natalie Erika James's directorial debut. It's not just those names which have brought it to people's attention, though, as a critically acclaimed premiere at the Sundance Film Festival (before COVID-19 closed the world down) meant that this has been a horror movie to watch out for from day one.
The premise of the film is simple, yet effective. When elderly mother Edna (Robyn Nevin) inexplicably vanishes, her daughter Kay (Emily Mortimer) and granddaughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) rush to their family's decaying country home, finding clues of her increasing dementia scattered around the house in her absence. However, it's once she returns with no explanation that things start getting weird, and what follows is a unique and memorable take on the classic haunted house trope.
While Relic is a film that definitely falls into the category of "arthouse horror," there are plenty of scares to be found, and a slow, suspenseful build to an edge of your seat final act. James has a good grasp on how to get the viewer invested, and while the lack of a classic horror movie monster or "MacGuffin" might stop it from reaching the same heights as other recent female-led horror outings (The Babadook springs to mind) in the eyes of some fans, there's certainly plenty to talk about here. The final few minutes do get a little confusing, but ambiguity is often a big part of movies like this, and it's an ending which makes sense for this story, particularly when the "big bad" isn't necessarily a terrifying ghost or monster, but someone's declining mental state. James tackles the subject of dementia in a lot of clever, impactful ways, with the deterioration of the house and changes in Edna's appearance from scene to scene the most obvious examples.
Robyn Nevin does a great job in that role, while Emily Mortimer (Kay) and Bella Heathcote (Sam) have heaps of chemistry, meaning buying into their mother/daughter relationship is extremely easy. As mentioned, the focus here is very much on this trio of women and the family dynamic they have, and Relic is frequently at its best exploring how the relationships between them differ (as well as how they deal with Edna's harrowing battle with dementia).
James is clearly a talented filmmaker, though the suspense is occasionally lessened by cinematographer Charlie Sarroff's often murky visuals. Relic also somewhat follows the expected horror movie patten of laying the groundwork for a final twenty minutes of big scares, but look beyond that, and it's clear that it is a story with a lot to say. It's neither the beginning of a franchise nor a horror classic, but as an opening chapter to what is clearly going to be an exciting and must-watch career for James, Relic works perfectly.
Compelling, suspenseful, and downright terrifying in places, Relic is a movie with a lot to say, and establishes Natalie Erika James as a filmmaker to watch in future.