When is a horror movie not a horror movie? When is a ghost not a ghost? When a haunted house story is an allegory for Alzheimer's and dementia. Relic is the directorial debut of Australian screen writer Natalie Erika James and it's a gripping, emotionally jarring journey through the trauma of watching a loved one be consumed by the loss of self and identity that happens when old age crosses over into irreversible mental decay.
Relic brilliantly adapts the classic horror trope of the haunted house into the gut-wrenching nightmare of watching a loved one slowly losing their grip on reality and bringing you along for the ride. Throw in the complications of strained familial relationships and the stakes become that might higher and the cost of the tragedy that much more visceral. All of this is rendered with intricate sensitivity and detail by the trifecta of a cast, representing three generations of the female side of this family struggling to cope with the matriarch's slide into darkness.
The atmosphere that drenches this film from start to finish has you feeling like you're part of the mold growing out of the walls in this old house. It's a home that's losing its cohesion, becoming increasingly unfamiliar, alienating and claustrophobic while, at the same time, seeming to "get bigger" as the sense of confusion takes over. The pacing of it also manages to alternate between hypnotically static stretches, where it seems to lean into a Lynch style sense of suspension of time, and more frantic sequences, particularly as it ramps into a climax that leave you grasping for the couch cushions as the walls close in.
It's a truly haunting story, made even more heartbreaking because of the emotional resonance that so many of these scenes leave behind. There's a lot of sophistication in this story telling and it's all matched by a visual attention to detail that brings it to life in a way that'll stick with you well after the credits have rolled.
Damn impressive.
P.S. The sound design and score is amazing to boot with some fabulously textured music and atmospheric sounds giving it that extra sense of depth.
No comments:
Post a Comment