Relic: A Slow Burn Indie Horror Movie

'Relic' is an Australian movie and the debut movie by Natalie James as a director. She has directed a few short movies though. A slow-paced horror story about a haunted house, dealing with forgetfulness of dementia, and family get together. The word Relic means an object or a survival memorial from the past. Here our object is an old house.

Relic (2020)
Cast: Bella Heathcote, Emily Mortimer, Robyn Nevin
Genres: Drama, Horror

Relic Movie Aesthetic Poster

The story is focused on the reunion of three generations, grandmother, her daughter, and granddaughter. It begins where Kay (Emily Mortimer) receives a phone call that her mother Edna (Robyn Nevin) has been missing. Kay and her daughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) drive to the rural area where grandma Edna inhabits their old inherited house. Suddenly, she disappeared without any trace. They failed to find her, but after 2 days, Edna returned to the house as if nothing ever happened. Edna lives by herself, has dementia. Her character is weirdly suspicious. It looks as if she was involved in paranormal activity. Kay's relationship with her mother (Edna) isn't much good. Also, Sam's relationship with her mother (Kay) isn't much good. This incident gave them a chance to repair their relationships, but things are getting worse than expected. 

The movie's first hour is slow. They don't show anything really scary except black sooty stains on the wall, different noises like wooden cracking, muffled banging, and thudding. Although it suits the storyline. You will like the cinematography and dark atmosphere of the movie. It would have been better if they had given more depth to the story. The end of the movie may leave you wondering with many theories.
Where did Edna go?
What was the story behind the house? (Which Kay saw in her dream)
Was it just dementia?
Was she passing her haunted heritage to her daughter? 


At some point, this movie felt like the recently released movie 'You Should Have Left (2020)' because throughout the movie nothing happened, then at the end, suddenly everything happened. Although 'Relic' is a watchable indie horror movie. 

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