‘Relic’ review: A unique take on the haunted house story
In a story about family and the aging process, Relic hits in places where most don’t. People always die in horror movies but most aren’t designed to purposely remind us of our mortality, of the indignity that it brings, and the alienation that comes with it. Relic is a unique take on the traditional haunted house story in which the past itself is the ghost. People, buildings, items of possession, they all have pasts. A time when they were fresh and new and all we can do is remember them in their prime as they inch closer towards decay.
Ghosts are usually metaphors for the past but Relic is more straightforward. There isn’t actually any ghost in the film, although it vaguely implies that there might be one for the sake of keeping the supernatural element alive but Relic is about age. Age and death, the terror it brings, and the heartbreaking acceptance of it. It really isn’t even that subtle. The damn title tells you what you need to know, “Relic,” for elders are often considered to be relics of the past. Don’t go in expecting to see some grand Lovecraftian monster at the end because there isn’t one and you’ll be greatly disappointed.
(Spoilers below)
Edna (Robyn Nevin) is a widowed elderly woman who has been having memory problems. Loneliness is her constant companion and dementia is coming in close behind. She leaves post-it notes everywhere reminding her of common everyday things like “turn off the facet,” “lock the door,” and “take pills.” One day she goes missing. The opening scene of the film leading up to her disappearance is probably my favorite part. Silently built around tension and creepy as hell, it’s a strong start to open the mystery.
Edna’s scattered post-it notes reveal that she believes something has been following her, making her think and forget things.
After she goes missing, her daughter Kay (Emily Mortimer) and granddaughter Sam (Bella Heathcote), arrive to help look for her and they have the typical generational conflicts going on between them, especially in regards to Edna. They figured she’s wandered off and realize that when they eventually find her, she can’t be left alone anymore. Sam doesn’t know why Kay can’t just move Edna in with her and take care of her full time but as for Kay, the inconvenience is too much, not to mention the responsibility. “That’s how it works isn’t it, she changes your nappies and then you change hers,” Sam says.
Meanwhile, there are no clues to Edna’s disappearance except for a strange mold that’s spread across the house and strange noises that come from behind the walls. But then out of the blue, Edna magically returns. She just reappears without any explanation, covered in bruises and refusing to say where she went.
Tensions rise once Edna returns. Sam and Kay aren’t equipped to handle her increasing confusion and agitation. They’re all waiting for things to get back to normal; Sam wants back her sweet n’ salty grandmother who taught her the piano, Kay just wants to feel at ease again so that she can get back to work, and Edna wants to go back to her daily routine. However, there is no going back to normal and as she gets worse, there grows a layer of dread over them all like rot on a wet ceiling. It keeps growing and growing until it’s spread everywhere. The wetness causing black mildew to drip down to the floor and stain the carpet; same as the mysterious mold spreading through the house.
The “ghost” of the house, the rot it’s inflicting, is an extension of the death approaching upon Edna, affecting her body and mind. While looking through her grandmother’s closet, Sam finds another part of the house blocked off with clutter where the mold has spread the worst. It leads into a never-ending series of passages and doorways, the walls donning Edna’s sticky note reminders; “my mother’s eyes are green,” “my name is Edna.” The further she goes, the smaller the hallways become, and soon the final stages of Edna’s “possession” begins.
Verdict
Directed by Natalie Erika James and written by James and Christian White, Relic is incredibly slow but still feels like it’s runtime. It’s 89 minutes, the perfect length in a world where almost every critical darling is 2h 45 min long. It moves along very quietly, building up to a House of Leaves type climax that suddenly dials down into a heartbreaking moment between mothers and daughters, the finale image of the film is emotive. A finale that sums up the painful and beautiful human experience.
By the way, what’s with movies this year including houses with never-ending mazes behind the walls? First You Should Have Left and now this? What’s going on? Although the maze in this house is much better than the one in David Koepp’s film.
(4 / 5)
Photos property of IFC Midnight and Screen Austrailia
Episode two of Amazon Prime’s Fallout was equal parts funny and bloody. This almost always leads to a good time.
The story
We begin this episode with the birth of some puppies that look like they’ve had a rough start to life. Each one is weighed, with the ones who fall short being incinerated.
One pup who is just below the correct weight gets a bit of a thumb on their scale. The scientist weighing them, Wilzig, writes down the proper weight. He later takes the puppy home to raise instead of putting them into what looks like an unforgiving training program.
Eventually, we see Wilzig put some blue glowing thing into his neck. When a soldier comes for him, Dog attacks the soldier, and the two escape.
We go from there to the wilderness, where Lucy is recovering from the last episode and enjoying a campfire at night. Wilzig and Dog come out of the shadows, saving Lucy from a bug monster. Wilzig tells Lucy she should go home. And if she’s not going to go home, she needs to evolve.
The next day Lucy finds her way to a town called Filly. As a Pennsylvanian, it hurts me to spell it that way. Lucy is entranced by this town, though clearly put off by the fact that no one is very nice here.
She eventually finds her way to a shop run by a delightful woman named Ma June. Ma doesn’t seem particularly interested in helping Lucy. Or, frankly, having Lucy in her shop.
Or in her town.
Eventually, Wilzig is tracked to this same shop, being tracked by The Ghoul. This is our final primary character. Lucy defends Wilzig, being aided at the last moment by Maximus.
Maximus, by the way, has been having a terrible time. After finally becoming a squire he’s disappointed to find that his knight, Knight Titus, is a terrible person.
Fortunately, Maximus doesn’t have to put up with Titus for long. After Titus gets the bright idea to go hunting, he’s attacked by a mutated bear. Maximus freezes, unable to save him. Then, well, he decides not to save him.
It was Titus’s idea to go hunt the bear, after all.
What worked
The first thing I want to draw attention to is the shootout scene at Filly. This scene checked every box a fight scene should check. It was fun to watch, with great effects. But it also gave us insight into the characters. Lucy is a decent fighter and has a strong moral compass. The Ghoul is callus and desensitized to death. And Maximus continues to be, well, sort of bad at this whole fighting thing. But with enough moral fortitude that we have a hard time blaming him.
Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the dog. Who’s name, as far as I’ve been able to ascertain, is just Dog. Which is fine. He doesn’t need to have a name to be a very good boy. He’s sweet, loyal, and fearless.
Also, puppies. Puppies are always great.
Finally, I’d like to shine a spotlight on Lucy’s reaction to the world at large. She is both amazed and terrified by everything. And while she certainly doesn’t want to be rude, she also doesn’t want to be taken advantage of. The best example of this is when she stops to ask for directions with a bright smile and a gun.
Once again, I don’t have anything bad to say about this episode. It was funny, dark, and fun to watch. I’m very much looking forward to the rest of the season.
(4 / 5)
Launching with worldwide excitement, Fallout is based on the extremely popular game series of the same name. Fans of the series have waited with anticipation and trepidation to see if the Prime series would live up to the game.
Having now watched the first episode I can say that, so far, it’s successful.
The story
Our story begins with a children’s birthday party. A performer is there with his daughter, giving horse rides and taking pictures with the kids.
As much as the adults try to focus on the party and the kids, it’s impossible to ignore the looming threat of war that’s on everyone’s mind.
Of course, it’s during this party that war comes, and the bombs drop.
We then cut to after the war and into one of the vaults established to protect humankind and the American Way. For future reference, this is Vault 33. We meet Lucy, our first main character, who’s petitioning to be married to a man from Vault 32 to ensure DNA diversity.
On the wedding night, though, Lucy and the rest of Vault 33 are met with a horrible surprise. The group they let in is not in fact from Vault 32, but is instead a team of raiders from the surface. The raiders kill a lot of the vault dwellers and kidnap Lucy’s father.
We are then introduced to our second main character, Maximus. He is in training to become a Knight in the Brotherhood of Steel. And, well, he’s not doing great.
Things get worse when his best friend Dane becomes a squire before him. But when Dane is hurt, Maximus gets their spot.
We then go back to Lucy, who has decided to leave the vault and find her dad. Of course, the council of her vault doesn’t want her to go. So she is aided by her brother Norm and cousin Chet in a wild escape.
What worked
The first thing that deserves attention is the exceptional character work. Our three main characters are fleshed out and relatable right away. We feel sympathetic for The Ghoul before he’s even introduced as such. We love Lucy’s nativity and selflessness. And we love Maximus for his honesty and passion for his cause.
While these characters are their own people, they also exhibit the three responses we might expect to see in a post-apocalyptic world. We have the hopeful optimist who doesn’t understand how bad things are. We have the aspiring hero who wants to make the world better by force. And we have the self-serving individual who’s given up on the rest of humanity and is only focused on surviving.
Another thing I enjoyed about this episode was the balance of humor and gore. Because there was certainly enough blood and guts for even the most hardcore horror lover. We had a violent sabotage, a brawl with raiders, and even several nuclear bombs.
But there were a lot of funny moments as well. Usually from Lucy. Her overall goodwill and fearless gumption are absolutely hilarious, especially given the horrors she’s facing. It never ceases to amuse me.
Both of these aspects are done perfectly. The jokes land and the bloody scenes pull no punches. It was delightful.
All in all, this was an exciting start to a much-anticipated series. Here’s hoping they’re able to stick the landing.
For more tv shows based on video games, check out my review of Witcher.
(4 / 5)
Episode seven of American Horror Story Delicate was a classic AHS flashback episode. If you were excited to see what Preecher had to say to Anna at the end of the last episode, I’m sorry to say that you will not get that satisfaction. However, we did learn all sorts of other fascinating things about the strange coven hunting Anna. And, we learned all sorts of things we didn’t know about Dex’s first wife, Adeline.
The story
We begin our story with a woman giving birth alone in a barn. When it becomes clear that she’s not going to be able to deliver vaginally, she pulls out a knife and cuts her stomach open to pull out her children.
For whatever reason, this is when the coven of witches decides to make themselves known.
We then cut to 2013, when Dex was still married to Adeline. In true Dex fashion, he’s surprised her with a puppy.
While that sounds great in theory, dogs are something a couple should talk about, not gift each other with as a surprise. An adult would know that. A trust fund boy like Dex does not.
Adeline owns a vegan restaurant called Ave Hestia. Love that name. She seems to be living a great life. She has a career she’s passionate about, friends who love her, and a husband she seems kind of fond of.
Maybe that’s why she didn’t want a puppy. She already had one.
Of course, things aren’t as good as they appear. We soon find out that Adeline was one of those babies we saw at the start of the episode. The other baby was Sonia, the painter.
And yes, both of these characters are played by Annabelle Dexter-Jones.
Adeline has stepped away from their family, and whatever dark things they do. But the family isn’t happy with her decision. And if she isn’t going to come back willingly, they’re going to make her.
What worked
To start with, I loved the character, Adeline. She is fierce, she is fearless, and relentless. I feel like this would have been a far different story if Adeline had been our main character. It was astounding to see her interact with the same people Anna has, and get a completely different response. It’s clear now, how much everyone around Anna resents her for simply not being Adeline.
I also appreciated that there was just a shocking amount of blood in this episode. From the start when Adeline and Sonia are born, to the climactic end of Adeline, this episode is just drenched in blood.
Finally, I’m fascinated by the changes in this season from the book it’s based on. Because absolutely none of this was in the book. Compared to this, the book is heartwarming.
The book is kind of heartwarming even without the comparison.
But I love the fact that, even with just two episodes left in the season, I have no idea what’s going to happen. I do not know what Anna is carrying. I do not know if she’s going to survive this. I do not know what these people want with her.
But I can’t wait to find out.
What didn’t work
All that being said, it is a bit frustrating to have no forward momentum in this episode. This was all backstory, and it felt like there wasn’t enough backstory to fill a full forty minutes. Because of that, it dragged. There were a lot of scenes that just didn’t need to be as long as they were. It felt like they could have cut that down considerably, and had some time to check in with our main characters at either the start or the end of the episode.
There are only two episodes left in the season, and I can honestly say I have no idea what’s going to happen. But so far the story has been dark, bloody, and provocative. So I hope they can manage to end it on a high note.
(4 / 5)
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