Relic (2020) Movie Review

Hello guys and welcome back for another round of movie reviews, quarantine edition, with Movie Nerd, a place where you can be nerdy about movies, even in a pandemic:)))

So, I have a bit more spare time on my plate so I have decided to do a quick review of this movie and share my thoughts about it with you guys. But before I dive into the review, a very short and quick synopsis: the plot follows three generations of women being drawn into the grandmother's dementia.

Let me start by saying this: if you think that this is your normal haunted house type of horror movie, you should think twice about that because this one is not your generic, cliched and very by the book haunted house movie. This one is unique and special in it's own way. It's more of an art-house horror movie rather than the conventional one. It has elements and parallels with other horror movies that came before it like The Babadook, The Witch and Hereditary. It also has some resembling traits with Mother! and Under the Skin with it's complex narrative and hidden symbolism and meanings.

The atmosphere of the movie is very eerie and creepy giving the movie a very strange and unearthing feeling of dread and mystery. It's pace is slow but it builds up the tension very expertly and very methodically to it's final act, which, unfortunately it leaves you with more questions than answers really. It does not even explain what is going on as the movie progresses, the movie does not offer us any hints or any sort of answers. It let's you try to figure it out on your own, leaving the mystery of it's story ingulfed in darkness, shadows and rot.

These types of movies often have a meaning buried very deep under it's main story but you have to find it on your own. It is not a coming of age story, it is a coming to terms story, coming to terms that, as older we get, the more our mind, personality and body starts to crumble and fall apart, like the house in this movie. It's rotten walls are directly connected with the slowly decrepit state in which the grandmother and mother of the two female characters. As the house falls apart, the body and mind also crumbles.

Overall, the movie is not for everyone. Not everyone will appreciate it's complexity, the enigmatic state of the whole movie, the way that it keeps you guessing until the end and even then you are still puzzled. But, it's chilly atmosphere, graphic and sometimes disgusting visuals but beautiful in some occasions, it's very different approach to the genre makes this a worthy and outstanding debut for it's director, Natalie Erika James. Is not as good as the movies that I have mentioned above, it's a bit more Mother! than I wanted, with it's complexity but it's definitely worth a watch. 7/10

OK guys, that was my review for this one. Hopefully, I will manage to post one more review the week to come, which will be for Hamilton because I heard a lot of good things about it and I want to see if those things are true or if the movie is over appreciated. Until then, take care, stay safe, stay clean, stay movie nerdy and keep on reviewing!