Tag: Relic

Relic Review

Relic from first time director Natalie Erika James is a psychological thriller about dementia trapped inside a haunted house tale. Its early stages are the most frightening before its own genre trappings become clearer. That’s not to say there aren’t creepy moments as the walls close in at its setting. There are and James and cowriter Christian White have fashioned a worthwhile chiller about life slipping away.

When the widowed Edna (Robyn Nevin) hasn’t been heard from in days, Kay (Emily Mortimer) and daughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) travel to her countryside home to locate her. A police report is filed but by morning the matriarch is back. She’s disheveled and seemingly unaware of the ruckus she’s caused. Displaying troubling memory lapses, the first act of Relic deals with the difficult questions many families have faced. Is putting their mom and grandmother in a retirement facility the answer? Should she stay with Kay or should the underemployed Sam serve as caretaker? There’s hopeful moments when Edna’s mind seems intact. Maybe it’s not so bad after all.

Those thoughts are fleeting as something is increasingly disturbing in Edna’s behavior and the mind of its own actions of her quarters. The walls creak. Shadowy figures appear in the nooks and crannies. A mysterious black mold and an abandoned shack on the property are potential keys to unlock the mystery.

Yet the most effective pieces of Relic are the ones most familiar to many a viewer. Mortimer finely conveys the sense of dread in witnessing a loved one losing their grip on reality. Two generations removed, Heathcote’s part is just as well defined. She wants to help but is helpless to the downward spiral. Nevin may have the most challenging role. The veteran Australian stage actress never goes overboard. A bewildered look after a jewelry exchange or a firm instruction for her daughter to check under the bed convey the scary situation with a subtle dread.

By its third act, the screenplay’s metaphors become more literal and it earns the horror pic designation. There may be no truly satisfying way to end it. That’s in part due to the disease that haunts Edna. The finality is dark by its nature. The acceptance of its victim and others that suffer is complex. Relic conveys that in a unique and frequently engrossing manner.

*** (out of four)

The Gothams Have a Cow

2020’s first precursor to the big show arrived today with the Gotham Awards nominations. The group which honoring independent pictures with budgets of $35 million and under made a little history too. All five contenders for Best Feature are made by female directors: Kitty’s Green The Assistant, Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow, Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland, and Relic from Natalie Erika James.

The tight controls on eligibility (and some major studios didn’t submit their Oscar hopefuls) makes it tricky to prognosticate how these nods compare to what the Academy may do. This has always been the case. That said, in the previous decade, at least one Gotham Feature nominee almost always gets a Best Picture nod. In fact, from 2014 to 2016, the Feature winners (Birdman, Spotlight, Moonlight) matched the Oscar winner. Last year, Marriage Story was the sole nominee at Gotham to make the Academy’s cut. In 2018, there were none. Three years ago, both Call Me by Your Name and Get Out got Oscar love.

First Cow led with the most nods and had itself a very good morning. However, its Oscar prospects are iffy while Nomadland looks to be the nominee that will almost certainly get recognition from the Academy (it could even win). The other three nominees are likely non-factors. We did not see another major picture from a female director with One Night in Miami make the final five, though Kingsley Ben-Adir did score a Breakthrough Performance nomination. Also left off: Minari, which seems to be rising in the Oscar chatter.

In the acting races, there were some high profile snubs particularly with Best Actress. Since this category’s inception in 2013, only one winner has matched up with Academy’s selection (Julianne Moore in Still Alice in 2014). In the previous year, none of the five women got Oscar recognition. In every other year, there’s been at least one.

The Gotham Actress hopefuls this year are Nicole Beharie (Miss Juneteenth), Jessie Buckley (I’m Thinking of Ending Things), Carrie Coon (The Nest), Frances McDormand (Nomadland), and Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari). Only McDormand seems destined for the Oscars in lead actress while Youn could show up in Supporting Actress. What is a bit surprising is the number of Gotham eligible performers who appear to be likely Oscar contenders who missed out here. That list includes Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman), Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman), and Michelle Pfeiffer (French Exit). I wouldn’t read too much into it, but it’s worthy of mention.

In Best Actor, Chadwick Boseman picked up his first posthumous mention for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. He is joined by Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal), Jude Law (The Nest), John Magaro (First Cow), and Jesse Plemons (I’m Thinking of Ending Things). Some eligible actors with Oscar hopes that missed out include Winston Duke (Nine Days) and Steven Yeun (Minari). The same could be said for Bill Murray in On the Rocks, though he would compete in supporting with the Academy.

Bottom line: while the Gothams aren’t a reliable barometer for what happens months from now, it does give a fun glimpse at what could follow. Today’s actions unsurprisingly solidify Nomadland and could give a slight boost to Cow. My weekly Oscar predictions will be updated tomorrow so stay tuned!