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Relic – 2020 James
- A noteworthy slow-burn arthouse horror from director Natalie Erika James – her debut film
- Bound to frustrate traditional genre enthusiasts with her pacing — James is far more concerned with telling a nuanced story of dementia as horror metaphor, reoccurring visual imagery and some nice Polanski-like framing and use of the camera as voyeur
- The stained glass door window is a great visual focal point for James—it has a meaning in the narrative, it is bounced off of formally several times, it is set up in the opening, the ending, and it is certainly pretty to look at
- Elliptical editing in a few spots to create tension and the feeling that Emily Mortimer (daughter) and Bella Heathcote (granddaughter) are not alone
- The editing overall is great- cutaways to reminder notes as part of the film form that Edna (played by Robyn Nevin—haunting) is leaving for herself as she loses her memory (of course there is a horror/sickness mirroring reading of the film)
- In at least a few instances- James places the camera (or characters in dialogue) just behind a door or wall—gives the viewer an eerie leering feeling – again this was used in Rosemary’s Baby.
- Hard not to think of Ari Aster’s generational horror film Hereditary
- A solid horror setting- a beautiful house, run down pool and tennis courts
- Dementia as a physical blackness taking over—that metaphor (which as it turns out with the end, is actually hereditary)—a strong (if not confusing at first) ending
- Fine final image of that stain-glass window
- Recommend
Drake2025-12-18T15:22:35-05:00
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I feel like Erika James has some of the best endings in recent film history. The choices she makes at the endings are a swing but she so far has managed to make them all stick. The ending elevates all of her films to another level. The final frame (I didn’t include it here) as well as the preceding tracking shot in Saccharine is sublime. A twist ending. The twist in Relic works very well too and very much has similarities with the ending of Rosemary’s Baby. Apartment 7A has an ending that is already obvious (being a prequel to Apartment 7A). But the song choice used is excellent and there is a lot of foreshadowing for the final overhead shot. It’s also a very rare combo of Horror and a Musical. Which doesn’t work entirely but I appreciate the ambition. And the choreography set pieces here. This film is leagues better than other straight to streaming movies. It’s actually crazy.
There is a ton of pink in the mise-en-scène in Saccharine
Unlike Relic, there is expressionistic color use and set design in both Apartment 7A and Saccharine. Which is frankly very rare for horror films. Especially the use of pink in Saccharine. The architecture and set design at the University and at the Gymnasium in Saccharine is very intentional and detailed. Vast spaces. It’s a sign of growth for a director that after working with a Studio film which involved set designing based around musical choreography, she brings this expressionistic set designing aspect to her subsequent film/s.
I love how fresh the voice of Natalie Erika James is. It’s rare to see a Director tackling important issues/topics such as Dementia and Obesity/Weight Loss head-on. These are very prevalent issues that any person or one of their loved ones can encounter. The message is that we should help these people, not ignore them. Even when they appear in a rough state.
Very consistent style of filmmaking as well. Camera positioning which gives off the eerie leering feeling that some person/force is observing these characters. Relic and Saccharine would make for great companion pieces. Metaphorical horrors with dementia/weight loss as a physical blackness taking over.
Saccharine (2026)
https://imgur.com/a/saccharine-2026-wfvvzlp
Astonishingly good ending
Natalie Erika James films I have seen ranked-:
1. Relic (2020) – HR
2. Apartment 7A (2024)
3. Saccharine (2026) – R
Sorry. I recently watched Relic again and have to change the ranking here.
1. Saccharine (2026)
2. Relic (2020)
3. Apartment 7A (2024)
The first two are Australian films. Granted with heavy US involvement.
Her next film Saccharine is releasing later this month. I’m excited for it. Also, I wanted to share this image from Apartment 7A.
https://imgur.com/a/apartment-7a-2024-xdrqdgr
She seems to be in good graces with the Critics again with Saccharine. A quick rebound in that department after Apartment 7A.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/saccharine/reviews
I think the ending of Relic is a great nod to Rosemary’s Baby. Yes, all the craziness happens before (much less subtle than Rosemary’s Baby) but it ends poignantly with genuine human connection and love. Like Rosemary’s Baby it has something more to say than regular horror shtick with blood, guts and violence. Also nice for Bella Heathcote to play main roles in two cool body horror flicks (this and The Neon Demon).
Weirdly enough Relic is more similar to Rosemary’s Baby than Apartment 7A (Rosemary’s Baby Prequel). I think the latter is heavily underrated but outside the story and characters it feels more influenced by Suspiria. With some Luca Guadagnino – Suspiria influences as well – bad. It’s very feminist. And it’s more Production-Design, Choreography based than about suspense and with a knockout ending which elevates the whole thing.
Her next film is premiering at Sundance next week. A lesser known cast than the previous two.
Apartment 7A (2024)
https://imgur.com/a/apartment-7a-Tk01p6n
The writing is very clever in this film. The Emily Mortimer character is not very welcome towards her mother but at the end she is the one who decides to stay with the mother. While the Bella Heathcote character is very welcoming towards her grandmother but when the grandmother deteriorates she decides to go away from the place until Mortimer convinces her to stay. Robyn Nevin may have the best role but all 3 give strong performances. Also like 50% of this film is shot with a partly blocked frame like someone is lurking behind. Very good stuff.
Bit of Trivia-Unless I’m missing someone Emily Mortimer is the only actress to get cast twice by Martin Scorsese in archivable films!!!
@Drake-Also any chance you catched Megalopolis? The reviews for it are all over the place.
@Malith – I have not caught Megalopolis yet- I am anxious to see it and can’t imagine it will last in theaters long – so we’ll see.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.moviejawn.com/home/2024/9/26/apartment-7a%3fformat=amp
@Malith – thank you for sharing – I caught the movie over the weekend- it is much stronger than the 48/100 metacritic would indicate
@Drake-I haven’t seen Relic yet. But given you say it is a slow burner and Rosemary’s Baby is exactly that too I wonder if there was any studio interference to rely more on jump scares than atmosphere at times.
But those dancing/Suspria like parts are very well done and there is a lot of strong visuals as well as a constant repetition of the overhead shot setting up the finale.
Apartment 7A(2024)
-Centers on the Terry Ginoffrio Character who died earlier in Rosemary’s Baby
-Terry is an aspiring ballet dancer and she also has a close female ballet dancing friend which combined along with the genre means it has very close connections with Suspiria as well
-The Production Design is overall excellent despite a few rough CGI exterior shots and rough lighting in a few tiny spots
-The theatre they are practising has a completely red set of audience chairs which seems brought from Deep Red(another Argento)
-Slow motion used in the opening dance scene’s final step to good effect
-Erika James sets the frame very well including the talk with the theatre director, the auditions/practice at the theatre, the surrealist sequence with the blue background etc.
-Recurring overhead shots are maybe the highlight, first one immediately after the blue background scene with Terry about to get raped, entering the church, the killing of the theatre director and also the very final scene before the credits(there is a mid credit scene afterwards)
-Not a big fan of the body manipulation thing brought from the Suspria remake I think
-I think the dream sequence is overused and it is confusing with 3 Satans? Too many supernatural leanings including the above mentioned body manipulation
-Far less subtle and more direct than Rosemary’s Baby. The worst culprits are a nun scene in the church and a phone call with Dr.Sapirstein who don’t even get a proper scene which is strange
-Silly mistakes like Mrs. Gardenia calling Terry, Rosemary randomly when they first meet(How was that allowed to happen?)
-The Final Song and ending I thought was great and different
-I don’t think this role is a good look for
Dianne Weist. She comes off very mean and aggressive and stop start while the essence of Minnie Castevet played by Ruth Gordon was overwhelming the protagonist with her talking. Kevin McNally is fine
-I think Julia Garner is excellent and there is a strong determination about her that was not in Rosemary
-Recommend
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