Relic

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!

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.

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.

It's so rare that anyone uses the horror genre to tell you something you needed to know about life. I'm absolutely overwhelmed at how elegantly this film horrified me, how totally it drew me in, and the *work* being done by the cast.

A really beautiful, touching, absolutely terrifying movie, that hit me across nearly every note. My gosh. Worth a watch.

I am so tired of horror movies where the characters move to a new house and walk in dark corridors for 80 minutes. What's that sound? Oh it's a washing machine. It doesn't matter. What's that sound? Oh it's just grandma being a weirdo. Go to bed grandma. What's that-- It's all a meaningless barrage of random nonsense. We need the first 80 minutes of the movie to get to the actual reason why this movie was made - the pretentious last 10 minutes. Just release that allegory for dementia/depression as a stand alone short film and don't waste my time with filler.