Review: Relic

Indie horrors are certainly becoming more and more regular on a release schedule, and I'm always up for these types of horrors.

I don't often go nuts for them. But I always appreciate them for being more about the story and the scares being more chilling and disturbing instead of sudden loud noises and make us jump out of our seats.

This Australian release from director Natalie Erika James was a bit of a mixed bag for me. While I got everything it was trying to say, and appreciate some of the clever visual messages. I just didn't feel anything for it.

It's a bit of a slow-burner and it's certainly not your usual horror. It's closer to an emotional drama with dark elements. But I think what made it work in the second half is that it's much more profound and metaphorical than most horrors.

The first half was perfectly fine. The story seemed to be something I had seen before with a few strange moments to make me think. But it was only when certain events took place towards the end of the second act was when I was beginning to find it interesting.

A few set pieces later including a very poignant finale, and I managed to find a lot more substance then I initially expected. The ending will definitely divide the audience. Some will find it ridiculous. But others like myself will find it as a nice way to close off the story.

The performances were pretty good I thought. There's basically just three characters all the way through, they are all developed well and carried the emotional weight of the film. Emily Mortimer utilised her experience, Bella Heathcote continues to showcase her talent and Robyn Nevin was a nice stand out.

It does have similarities to The Babadook or Hereditary where it uses real life situations and manifests them into some sort of horror. You could also compare the style and production design with the aforementioned films. But Relic for me felt comfortably inferior.

I understood the themes it was covering such as loss, both in the forms of grief and alzheimer's. But it never had that strong engagement that similar have done in the recent past.

I can definitely appreciate this feature. It's a promising directorial debut for Natalie Erika James. But I cannot see myself watching this again. There is definitely an audience for this. But others will find it slow and boring. I think it would appeal to fans of David Cronenberg or maybe Ari Aster.

Rating: 7/10