6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A daughter, mother and grandmother are haunted by a manifestation of dementia that consumes their family's home.
Starring: Emily Mortimer, Robyn Nevin, Bella Heathcote, Jeremy Stanford (II), Chris BuntonHorror | 100% |
Supernatural | 17% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
In 2014, writer/director Jennifer Kent created “The Babadook.” It was a tale of a demonic presence, and while Kent was very clear with her spooky intent, she was also painting a portrait of parenthood, which is often an experience of unrelenting horror. It was a sharp, stunning feature with a delicious claustrophobic atmosphere. The type of viewing experience is found in “Relic,” which turns its attention to the various challenges of dementia and how the personal experience of such degeneration greatly taxes all those involved. Co-writer Natalie Erika James impressively merges the real- world agony of aging with a haunted house story, coming up with a complex film that’s richly detailed and performed, reaching above and beyond a simple ghost story to tap into deep emotions involving the nightmarish decline of a once vibrant loved one.
The AVC encoded image (2.39:1 aspect ratio) presentation encounters a lot of compression-related issues, evident in the very first scene of the movie. Banding and posturization are a common sight during the viewing experience, with darker scenes especially struggling with artifacting. The image is a bit sturdier when fully illuminated, offering a look at the movie's colder palette, which favors bluish tinting and dark hues with interior spaces and household tours. Primaries register as intended, coming through on costuming and greenery. Skintones are natural. Detail is adequate, finding facial surfaces and bodily harm textured, along with decorative additions and decaying visions. Delineation has moments of solidification, but "Relic" is also an extremely dark picture at times.
The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix offers direct dialogue exchanges, handling the dramatic moods of the picture, which goes from conversational to panic as the mystery deepens. Accents are sharp and argumentative behavior doesn't slip into distortive extremes. Scoring isn't flashy, often carrying simple, sustained low notes to underline scene suspense, offering some low-end weight. Surrounds are alert with haunted happenings, delivering a few panning effects, while music is present. Atmospherics are also inviting, managing room tone, and sound effects are pronounced, capturing wall thumps and spooky movement.
"Relic" is going somewhere beyond a basic horror show, through James likes to recycle slow-burn scenes of caution and delusion, working to beef up the run time. James really has a crackerjack short film on her hands, but she pushes for a feature-length brain-bleeder, which doesn't accentuate the picture's potential for suspense. She does have a first-rate cast that delivers engaged performances, and once more familiar offerings of creepiness pass, there's an unexpectedly empathetic movie to discover, and one that provides a unique vision for a frequent family and medical issue, offering a metaphorical journey that distracts with common genre encounters, only to end up in a strange place of love and fear that's impressively cinematic and startlingly humane.
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