Kay (played by Emily Mortimer) receives a telephone call saying her mother hasn't been seen for a couple of days - she and her daughter Sam (played by Bella Heathcote) go and stay at her house, it's empty, filthy, with decaying food. Kay starts cleaning furiously, a couple of days go by and Edna, Kay's mother and Sam's grandmother appears in the kitchen.
She refuses to discuss where she has been and is behaving strangely - the house becomes a motif expressing the decay of Edna's mind and in turn body. The ending is particularly heart felt as we see three generations of women laying in bed together.
The first half of the film was brilliant, the build up of tension was executed with such talent with the film score and camerawork. The second half felt more tender, sadder and in places a little loose. Emily stole the show here, a daughters desperate need to want to protect and understand her mother entwined with her guilt to potentially send her to an old people's home.
"Isn't it how it works. Gran changed your nappies and then you change hers"
Hurray! We have a female director and writer! Natalie Erika James film, Relic opens nationwide in UK cinema's and on streaming services on October 30th 2020.
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