Relic

Another quality entry from a 21st century Australian filmmaker, it's a film which horror I don't think most young people can experience or recognize properly, because it gets real with age, and, as you grow older, it creeps into you as some sort of inheritance, a legacy where you find yourself thinking of dying not in those romantic terms where you'd decide your own fate, but in terms of personal diminishing and gradual demise as, next in line for it, you slowly but surely creep towards your own death. "Relic" is drama-first, horror-second, yet that doesn't spoil its genre effectiveness. The three women portraying the three generations within the same family are all great and, even more importantly - relatable. With so many movies right now having these perplexingly high metascore marks, "Relic" is the one where I actually think its rating is highly unfair. My bet is it'll age gracefully.

In "Relic", a woman and her teenage daughter hurry back to the parental home in a remote Australian region because their mother/grandmother is reported missing for a few days already. This simple and basic piece of information already takes the film more than 20 minutes to illustrate. After another few days of worrying and panic, the grandmother comes back home and pretends as if everything is normal, but she's clearly suffering physically and - in particular - mentally. That covers pretty much the rest of the film and gives you an idea of how slow-paced "Relic" is.

Writer/director Nathalie Erika James definitely understood that genuine horror relies on building suspense and on the strong personalities of the lead characters, but I'm guessing that, along the way, she forgot that also a minimum of action is required. I wouldn't even refer to "Relic" as horror, in fact, since it's more of a family drama in which clichéd themes like (demonic) possession serve as metaphors for life's real tragedies & ordeals, like Alzheimer's disease, dementia, and care for the elder. Intelligent and socially relevant, for sure, but unfortunately rather dull.

A solid debut for Natalie James. This is a slow burn horror that builds with each minute, and by the third act is full blown terror. All of the acting was surprisingly phenomenal, extremely impressed by Bella Heathcote. The third act is a fun ride, claustrophobic and even a little gore. Give it a shot, you wont be disappointed.

This is well done and I can't say I have seen anything like it. The actors are very good and the script is creative and well timed. It's a fairly slow burn but not enough to lose your attention. I love a good horror but this one hit too close to home. I couldn't handle it. That's never happened before. When I was a teenager, my best friend and I, used to get rocked and go see movies like The Exorcist. So, when I say I couldn't handle THIS movie, that says something. If you love a good horror and you are the target audience, this one will give you nightmares. If you're not the target audience, it probably won't phase you. For instance, if you are afraid of flying, then movies about aircraft accidents will effect you. If you are not afraid of flying you can mentally step back and not get nervous watching a movie about airplane accidents. It's like that. If something like this has even remotely touched your life, this movie will rattle your cage big time.

The movie is good in the sense that it makes you feel how does it to have a family member who has dementia illness, alzheimer.

The movie depicts the feelings of being lost, and helplessness in the face of an illness that can turn a person into something else, to a different person. And it also teaches you to deal with it, you need to embrace it.

Good visual scenes, and sound effects. Normally, I don't like movies like this but I liked this one.