Relic Film Review

Relic is a daring horror drama about the dangers of Dementia. It encompasses the heart of both horror and compassion in one of the best IFC Midnight films I have seen to date.

Kay (Emily Mortimer; Mary Poppins Returns, Shutter Island) and her daughter Sam (Bella Heathcote; Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Dark Shadows) travel to visit Kay’s mother, Edna (Robyn Nevin; The Matrix Reloaded, Gods of Egypt) after she mysteriously vanishes from her home. While in the process of taking care of her grandmother, Sam starts to notice strange happenings in the house that seem rather harmless at first glance. Over time the duo discovers that something seems a little off about Edna and she seems to have returned a shell of her former self.

Relic is one of the most unique genre films I have seen in a long time. It encompasses both family and horror in the same realm without trying too hard to win over its audience. It flows beautifully and tells the tale of a daughter struggling to come to terms with her mothers dementia. The choice to use the house as a metaphor for the disease was a brilliant choice and adds to the dark atmosphere of the film. The lack of jump scares and cheap thrills is a welcomed change in modern cinema, especially ones of this caliber. I thought the darkness tone of the film matched beautifully with the haunting music and the artistic videography. They all worked so well together to create a cohesive film that is both memorable and enjoyable.

I first discovered Emily Mortimer when she played Chloe in the 2005 Woody Allen film Match Point opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Scarlett Johansson. After watching the trailer for Relic I could already see her character coming to life. She has this gift you rarely see in films these days. She pulls genuine emotion from her audience and makes them feel like the character she’s playing is a real person. Even though I didn’t know Kay very well as a character I identified with her as a woman and as a daughter.

Bella Heathcote is known for her portrayal of Victoria Winters in Tim Burton’s interpretation of Dark Shadows. It was great to see Bella in a more controlled environment. Her skills as an actress really shined here. Sam is a young woman who is struggling to figure out what it is she wants to do with her life and incorporating that into this story makes her someone people of all ages can relate to.

Robyn Nevin did a superb job playing Edna. I believed that she was someone’s loved one who is going through a big change in the later years of her life. I really cared about what happened to her. The way Robyn portrayed Edna’s disconnect from reality was both convincing and heartbreaking. I would definitely recommend watching her other films.

I would suggest Relic to fans who enjoy a little drama and realism in their horror films. If you’re looking for some thing that is both Erie and relatable I think this is the film for you. The entire cast is phenomenal. They bring this story to life and I really enjoyed it. I give Relic a 9/10. I wish we had gotten to know Edna before her disappearance in order to really get a good glimpse at how shocking her transformation really was. Aside from that I thought it was brilliant. Relic was praised during its 2019 opening at Sundance Film Festival in 2019. The film opens on July 10 In Theaters and also available On Demand / Digital Rental.

Swallow Film Review- Final Girls Film Festival

Hunter, an expectant mother begins her journey down a dangerous path to self destruction. Can she find a better way to cope with her loneliness or will she let it consume her? It becomes obvious very early on that although Hunter loves her husband their marriage isn’t ideal. She is constantly trying to be the perfect wife for Richie and in doing so she loses a part of herself. She lacks the ability to control her life and in an effort to gain back that control she starts experimenting by swallowing small objects. It seems perfectly harmless at first but as we dig deeper we start to realize that this has become a dangerous obsession.

Swallow is a great example of a film that concentrates on the darker side of marriage. It explains in detail what can happen when you marry someone and you spend that entire relationship not being yourself but trying to be someone else for the one you love. It’s a great way to look into a relationship without rose tinted glasses. Few films are able to do this in a way that is truly relatable.

Haley Bennett’s portrayal of Hunter is fantastic. She is able to make her character seem both relatable and detached all at the same time. It’s almost as if she’s playing two separate characters that merge together seamlessly and I applaud her for her abilities. After seeing this film I cannot imagine anyone else playing the role of Hunter.

Denis O’Hare plays the pivotal role of Irwin in this story. Sometimes it’s the characters who provide the backstory that are the important ones. They tell us about who the main character is and what they’ve gone through to lead up to the moment when we meet them. I have been a big fan of Denis’s work and I think he really shines here.

If you are a fan of strong female characters I urge you to check out Swallow. It gives a real, heartfelt look into life and shows that no one is perfect even if it appears so from the outside. I give Swallow a 10/10. The directing, writing, acting, cinematography, and music are all brilliant. It all comes together to tell the story of a perfectly imperfect housewife. Swallow debuts in select theaters and on demand on March 6, 2020 and is currently being shown at Final Girls Film Festival in Berlin, Germany.

TV Review - Netflix’s Mindhunter Season 2

Mindhunter is a Netflix Original series based off of the best selling 1995 crime thriller entitled Mindhunter: Inside The FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit. The novel was written by both John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker. The project became a reality after actress Charlize Theron gave director David Fincher a copy of John’s novel. After years of deliberation with other agencies Mindhunter finally found its writer, Joe Penhall. With Theron and Fincher signed on as Executive Producers, the series would be picked up by Netflix in 2015, and air on October 13, 2017. 

The television series explores the first hand accounts of retired Special Agent and Unit Chief John E. Douglas. Douglas’s career started in the late 1970’s, and he has spent a total of 25 years with the United States Federal Bureau Of Investigation. He has sat down with some of America’s most terrifying and sadistic serial killers. Some of the men he’s dealt with are high profile killers such as Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, and Ed Gein. 

John learned how these men think, speak, and even act. He used this crucial information to build informative profiles of these criminals. As if his resume isn’t impressive enough, the character Jack Crawford from the 1991 film Silence Of The Lambs was based on John E. Douglas.

Season One of Mindhunter focuses on FBI agents Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Tench (Holt McCallany). With Ford being a rookie and Tench being a hard headed know it all, the first few episodes are quite interesting to say the least. Once the boys are given the task of running the Behavioral Science Unit the “fun” begins. Ford and Tench make their way to the prison in order to interview their subjects. These criminals are instructed to participate in a formal questionnaire. It’s during this process that the information is handed over to their research partner, Professor Carr (Anna Torv). 

The real life serial killers portrayed in Season One Of Mindhunter are Ed Kemper (Cameron Britton), Montie Rissell (Same Strike), Jerry Brudos (Happy Anderson), Richard Speck (Jack Erdie), and Dennis Rader aka the BTK Killer (Sonny Valicenti). 

Season Two premiered on August 16, 2019 and brings us back to the Psychological Unit. This time Tench and Professor Carr are instructed to keep an eye on Ford by newcomer Assistant Director Gunn (Michael Cerveris), as his practices are unconventional and not within the bureau’s protocol. Assistant Director Gunn is the replacement for Unit Chief Shepard who blames Ford for his forced retirement. 

Season Two focuses on a number of high profile serial killers. The current case Ford and Tench are working on are the latest murders committed by the American serial killer Dennis Rader also known as the BTK killer. BTK stands for “Bind, Torture, Kill”. Dennis Rader was active from 1974 to 1991 and was responsible for the deaths of 10 people in the Wichita Kansas area. After a long hiatus he returned in 2004 when he wrote a letter that resulted in his capture in 2005. Rader is currently serving 10 consecutive life sentences at the El Dorado Correctional Facility.

Dennis Rader aka The BTK Killer (left), Sonny Valicenti as Dennis Rader (right)

David Berkowitz started his killing spree during the summer of 1976. His trail of terror ended after his sixth victim. In 1984 Berkowitz pleaded guilty and was sentenced 25 to life for each one of his victims. David’s weapon of choice was a .44 caliber bulldog revolver. This led the media to nickname him the .44 Caliber Killer, a name which David detested. At the time he felt the name Son Of Sam suited him perfectly. He later retracted this statement in 2017 expressing that he hates the name and used it out of anger. Berkowitz is now a born again Christian who goes by the name Son Of Hope. Oliver Cooper’s brilliant portrayal of David Berkowitz is awe inspiring. It’s honestly one of the most bone chilling and convincing portrayals of a serial killer I have ever seen. 

David Berkowitz (left), Oliver Cooper as Berkowitz (right)

As much as I love Season One, Season Two just blew me away. I can’t express how much I genuinely love this series. Mindhunter isn’t your typical television program. All of the actors did such a phenomenal job of bringing these characters to life. Although writer Joe Penhall had his work cut out for him with the series, I felt as though he told John’s story beautifully. A lot of the content to seeing it in the television series is taken directly from John’s novel. 

The details about the FBI agents, the department, and the serial killers themselves were written exceptionally well. Some of the other infamous men included in Season Two are Charles Manson, William Henry Hance, Elmer Wayne Henley Jr., and William Pierce.

If you’re a fan of crime thrillers, serial killers, and TV shows based on actual events, I highly suggest you watch Mindhunter. If you’ve never seen the series, Season One is brilliant, and Season Two was so good I couldn’t stop watching it. Both seasons of Mindhunter are now available on Netflix.