Relic

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.

This Australian horror never ceased to amaze me. The film started off very mysterious and rather spooky. As with so many horror films, I expected the mystery to subside by the second act, but it remained mysterious and creepy for the entire movie. It's been a while since I've experienced a movie like this.

Kay is asked to check up on her mother, Edna, who lives alone in a big house in the countryside, and haven't been seen in a few days. Kay's daughter, Sam, accompanies her. From the onset it is clear things are not what they seem. When Edna suddenly reappears, things get even creepier and more mysterious. Robyn Nevin is fantastic as Edna. Edna clearly has dementia, but there's something far more sinister going on ... or is there?

Bloody hell, this film was so much better than expected. Some moments - especially during the final act - will have you cringe in your seat. The effects were never over the top, but ever so effective. Wow, this was good - and also somewhat disturbing. Great ending!

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.

Making movies for today's horror audience is a tricky proposition, but Relic impressed me with it's commitment to telling an emotional story that resonates with issues which you may recognise from our lives outside of the "fantasy-horror" tropes. The movie is a slow burn which devotes the majority of its time to establishing the central 3 characters (impressive performances), who make up 3 generations of women from an old family in an old house in rural Victoria. If you enjoy thoughtful film-making with a "less is more" approach, you'll be rewarded by a masterfully disturbing and shocking third act climax with an emotional kick that will give you closure but leave you thinking. It should be noted though, just the like characters in Relic, you'll have to give attention to the people in front of you to reap the rewards.

Kay (Emily Mortimer) and her daughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) arrive to check on her mother Edna (Robyn Nevin) who has been responding to police checks. They find Edna in a disturbed state and slowly deteriorating.

This is a slow moody Australian horror. It's a little slow in the first half. Basically, this is tapping into the senior with dementia idea. The movie could do more with it earlier. Some of the photo album stuff can be done sooner. This needs to do more and faster. It does get to an interesting place and I like the ending. This is not the scariest horror but it's interesting.