Relic (2020)

July 11, 2020 10:37 AM

When Edna, the elderly and widowed matriarch of the family, goes missing, her daughter Kay (Emily Mortimer) and granddaughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) travel to their remote family home to find her. Soon after her return, they start to discover a sinister presence haunting the house and taking control of Edna.

A new horror film available for digital rental. From director Natalie Erika James. As of this writing, at 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.

posted by DirtyOldTown (7 comments total)

This would be a good double feature with Honeymoon. It's got a parallel dread/anxiety vibe and even a similar color palette.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:17 PM on July 11, 2020 [1 favorite]

This is of a cloth with not just Honeymoon, but also The Babadook. It's a horror drama that center's a woman's pain. This one is about our parents aging and facing dementia.

Very cool stylistic thing where when creepy things pop up in the corner of your eye/the edge of the soundtrack, it's not a quick setup for a jump scare, it's somewhere between a reward for paying attention and foreshadowing. It's unnerving and adds to the dread.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 4:48 PM on July 11, 2020 [2 favorites]

Not the "monster in a museum" Relic.
posted by Chrysostom at 4:57 PM on July 11, 2020

So I just watched this. I definitely see the parallels between this and Honeymoon. The movie really nailed three strong independent women struggling with what's happening for me. It felt very genuine and grounded, which is what makes the film work.

I will say this-the film didn't commit one sin in my eyes. You NEVER EVER drop your weapon. Certainly not if the thing you were just battling is still alive. Such a small thing, but you do not drop your weapon.
posted by miss-lapin at 1:29 AM on July 12, 2020

I really liked this, but found it pretty hard to watch having had some real-life experience with a person descending into dementia. Some of the spatial-dislocation bits provided an interesting contrast with You Should Have Left--definitely a lesser movie, but hitting some of the same elements with a mainstream Blumhouse aesthetic, versus the decidedly more A24 style of this one.
posted by whir at 8:54 PM on July 12, 2020 [1 favorite]

I watched this earlier this week, and bawled my eyes out. I've never seen a horror movie be so tender. I've got complicated feelings surrounding moms, with mine being an alcoholic and mostly absent, and this movie shot right into the core of what I'm secretly afraid of, now that my mother is in her 60s. Absolute masterpiece, in my opinion. Completely broadens the scope of what horror can mean, and teach us. Oh, and it was actually scary, too.
posted by FirstMateKate at 2:23 PM on July 23, 2020 [2 favorites]

Holy shit. The finale had me crawling out of my skin and pacing the room, barely able to watch as I tried (and completely failed) to guess where this was going. A *little* bit more focus on character and backstory might have been better for my taste but wow what a mood, and what an incredible ending. The more I think about it the more the dementia metaphor opens up new layers of so many scenes; the confusion of the granddaughter in the shifting, decaying house, e.g., is so perfect.

This one's going to stick with me for a while, I can tell. Excited to see what Natalie Erika James does next.
posted by mediareport at 9:13 PM on August 14, 2022 [1 favorite]