Relic: NZIFF Review

Japanese Australian director Natalie Erika James' generational horror arrives at the festival with plaudits ringing in its ears.

Praised for being female-led and for being disturbing, the film's the story of Emily Mortimer's Kay who discovers her mother is missing. Suspected dementia adds a layer of tension to the story as Kay and her daughter (Bella Heathcote) investigate - but when mum returns home, it soon transpires something else has come with her...

Slow-burning and somewhat akin to the rather marvellous The Babadook, this is a horror that leaves an impression long after it's ended.

Twisting shots inside the film's location add to the atmospherics and James' eye for the slow clever use of shots add much to Relic.

It begins with what looks like a flashing red light that transpires to be a Christmas light, and ends with something that's led to much debate - in between snapshots of moments mix with jump scares and the psychological tricks played on the mind's eye.

Murky rotting walls give the film a sense of the creeping dread, but Mortimer and Heathcote do much to keep the film's humanity alive as the talk of the demon and its reality builds.

A taut 90 minute run time helps greatly as well, without any of Relic feeling like bloat as the unease adds up to something that may trouble some more than others. Granted, the reveals are less about unleashing cheap thrills, more planting the seed of an idea into the viewer's mind and watching it unfold.

Relic is a film blessed with as much intrigue as it has smarts. It will take up residence in your mind as it delivers on its promise.