‘She called me a few weeks ago… I think she was scared…’
In this golden age of horror, we have entered a realm in which nothing is off the table, as anyone who has witnessed the gut churning spectacle of Hereditary will attest to. While there are plenty of films that riff on the idea of going mad, I can’t recall a movie that leans as heavily into the murky world of dementia as Relic. In a world without taboos, the quiet, unspoken terror of watching a family member decay to the point of inertia is a chilling prospect indeed. The thought that this hideous fate might even come for us is even more difficult to stomach. Relic addresses this concept head on, and the result is a film that is both horrifying and strangely touching.
Natalie Erika James’ movie focuses on three generations of one family who are forced to live together when grandmother Edna (Robyn Nevin) starts to deteriorate. Her daughter Kay (Emily Mortimer) and her granddaughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) have their own issues to contend with.
Firstly, I must address the dark elephant in the room. Yes, this concept is very similar to The Babadook, and no, it isn’t executed quite as well. The thing that pushes Relic more into the territory of homage than rip off is that this is clearly a film that comes from a place of real human emotion rather than ‘let’s do The Babadook but for dementia’. Relic pushes the envelope of what could be considered tasteful around this subject, and it will be too much for some, but when it works, it really works. All three main cast members do a cracking job of capturing the feeling of helplessness and grief when a loved one starts to slip away and this is vital is ensuring that some of the dafter moments don’t undermine the whole thing.
Relic is the latest in a series of smart and poignant horror films, and while it seems to have gone under the radar a little, it is worth seeking out for those who like a little emotional heft with their scares. An ambitious and well realised project.