Another very impressive first-time feature debut from an Australian director (the second being Babyteeth, which I recently reviewed), Relic is a haunted-house movie which truly – TRULY – creeped me out in its final sequence. Very good. Here’s my review.
This one looks right up my alley and I was so glad to read your review today. The crossover from the horror of dementia, not knowing or remembering what is happening as one moment fades to the next, to a situation of supernatural horror seems perfectly matched. It also gives an interesting perspective on how easy it is to ignore or disregard that person’s experience. I get stuck in most horror movies by how unrealistic the characters’ reactions are but I’m imagining this hits much closer to reality.
Can’t wait to watch!
Paula – what you got from my review is so right on! That’s exactly it!
// It also gives an interesting perspective on how easy it is to ignore or disregard that person’s experience. //
Yes! The way the daughter looks at the elderly mother – with pity – “listening” but not believing … it’s very painful but very very truthful.
Let me know what you think once you see it. It’s very scary, too!! But the psychological horror is what really struck me.
The only thing I thought unrealistic was that the house was so damn creepy I just wanted them all to go check into a motel. lol.
Like … shadows don’t move on their own – RUN.
Oh boy. A study of identity and guilt rolled up in a burrito of horror. First, the cinematography was beautiful especially in the first half. All that space and distance on the roads, in the forest and between the three characters was lovely and then the transition to claustrophobic both physically in the house and emotionally between the women. The final image of the three women really got me as well.
As a former caretaker for a relative with dementia, this really hit that experience on the head. The whiplash reactions, the stubborn independence, the paranoia and the guilt. The divide between the daughter’s practical taking-charge and the granddaughter’s empathy shows there is no easy answer how to approach it (theow in a haunted house, that’s a complication, lol).
The emotional journeys were nicely done in those moments where Sammy calling Kay mom and Kay inviting Gran home.
And yes on the horror! //go check into a motel// <<< This! Damn, ladies, get out – you have a car, use it! I constantly have these infinite house dreams (which interestingly enough in this context is a reflection of the search for self and identity) and this movie is nightmare fodder.
Still thinking about Kay’s dreams where she looks at the open door, the fear and inevitability of becoming her mother.