Relic (Natalie Erika James)

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...nSwBlqWb2HIaCw

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Rented it on Amazon for 6.99

Remember, https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/relic is your best friend during covid

Strong third act makes me wish most of the film drops the respectful arthouse horror sheen that does nothing to hide its underimagined Main Metaphor drama, which requires so much more psychological and story development to not make it feel so thin for a feature length. The escalation near the end is so potent in merging both real-word horror and supernatural one, culminating in that great final scene, that I wish it has gone bugnut earlier and more often. 6/10

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Originally Posted by Peng

I wish it has gone bugnut earlier and more often. 6/10

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This is my take too. We are to quick to jump on any Wann horror film as following a finale like trope, then why are we (critics) so easily convinced that the same escalation trope can't exist in this film?

https://i.ibb.co/8NzfwW0/relic.png

We watched this the other night, and we liked it overall, but we're very confused about something...

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Show Spoiler

The grandfather. That felt like a plot thread that was just completely dropped at the end.
Emily Mortimer's character has these persistent nightmares of the cabin in the woods, her grandfather being there and dying. Did I see him chained to the floor/bed?
Are we to infer that grandma did something to grandpa?
Is that where she went when she disappeared for 3 days at the beginning of the movie?
Is he still there? Dead? Dying?
Not to mention the scene where grandma and Mortimer are talking in a dark hallway and we see an emaciated male figure standing behind Mortimer.

]

All three lead performances are really good, and it is quite creepy at times.

Frustratingly dark. So poorly lit. It goes beyond moody and becomes very difficult to see what is going on.

I also think the message of the film is a bit troubling. Gets awfully close to all-out demonizing mental illness at times.

I dont remember anything about the grandfather which means I didn't take it as a literal depiction of which actually happened to him. Just the on the nose metaphor Peng references above, showcasing the grandma's decent into her disease.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dukefrukem

I dont remember anything about the grandfather which means I didn't take it as a literal depiction of which actually happened to him. Just the on the nose metaphor Peng references above, showcasing the grandma's decent into her disease.

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I would support this reading if it weren't for:

A) The dream being repeated at least 3 times, and the insinuation that the cabin in the dream is in the woods where grandma disappeared.

B) the figure behind Mortimer when she is talking to her mother in the hallway.

I think the figure is just a physical representation of the evil or misfortune on the women in the family.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dukefrukem

I think the figure is just a physical representation of the evil or misfortune on the women in the family.

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That could be. I'll have to watch it again.

Voted yay sometime back and tbh I don't remember jack shit about this movie except for the ending, which was one of the most visually imaginative sequences I've seen in a horror movie in a looooooooong time.