Parents' Guide to Relic

This horror movie has a pretty slow build, but when it kicks in, it does so with head-spinning impact, cleverly and dynamically achieving a visual, physical manifestation of its themes and emotions. Directed and co-written by Natalie Erika James in her feature debut, Relic focuses on the three women above any other spectacle. They represent three generations, each attempting to understand and communicate with the others, with the younger members of the trio secretly fearing that they, too, will face the horrors of aging and decay. This emotional center drives the rest of the story. Better still, Relic manages to talk about dementia without seeming like an issue-driven movie.

With its vivid lighting, sound design, and set design, the movie has a strong, creepy haunted-house vibe. As Kay and Sam poke around the house, many seemingly innocuous objects start to take on darker vibes: a chair, a stained-glass window, a ring, candles, etc. But when things really get going in the final section, Relic builds some deeply terrifying moments, recalling Mark Z. Danielewski's great novel House of Leaves and pulling off images of the imagination that might have seemed unfilmable. Of course, nothing would have worked without the three nuanced lead performances, especially Nevin in the most difficult role; her radical switchbacks in mood are scary but human.