Review of Relic (2020) by Jluis_001 — 25 Jul 2020

A haunted house film that benefits much more from the atmosphere than from the tension it manages to conjure.

Certainly, those who expect a horror story riddled with cheap jump scares will be greatly disappointed.

Like many recent films of the genre that have chosen to be deeper than many of the cheap productions that we see from studios like Blumhouse.

For what it matters, Relic is a story about deeply buried memories of past trauma.

Being a story about a ''haunted house'', the metaphor and the whole core of the matter lies in the fact that that home is a reflection of the mind state of its inhabitant and I say inhabitant because despite the fact that the three main characters are intertwined by blood. It's just one that is mentally drifting away.

And when that mind begins to collapse, the house begins to do the same.

This is a good slow-burner and to be honest while the supernatural element is present and is clearly an important part of the narrative, the essence of this story is more an allegory of a psychological breakdown and family issues.

Something that has been explored in recent and more successful films like Hereditary.

So I warn viewers because that tone and ambiguity are crucial for how this film works.

For my part I can only say that if you're into this kind of horror films, go for it.