“This house is the only thing left. All our memories,” says Robyn Nevin in a new trailer for “Relic.” Edna’s (Nevin) daughter Kay (Emily Mortimer) and granddaughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) travel to the remote family home when Edna goes missing. They find their matriarch, but the reunion is far from idyllic.
“Since your grandfather passed, this house seems unfamiliar,” says Edna. As eerie as the house it, Edna’s behavior is what really worries Kay and Sam — they discover “a sinister presence” that’s not only haunting the house, but “taking control of Edna,” the pic’s synopsis hints.
Described by its director, Natalie Erika James, as a “story about the heartbreak and tragedy of aging and Alzheimer’s and the shifting dynamics between parent and child as people age,” “Relic” made its world premiere at Sundance in January.
James said that her feature directorial debut came from a “personal place” — it was inspired by her own grandmother and her battle with Alzheimer’s. She explained, “I think having to confront your parents’ mortality – and your own by extension – is such a scary but universal concept. There’s a specific tortuous quality to Alzheimer’s and watching someone decline in its clutches. If there’s one person in the audience who watches the film and it resonates with them on a level that helps them process a feeling or an experience with the disease, or see their loved ones in a new light, I’ll feel like I’ve achieved what I set out to do,” she emphasized.
Mortimer’s recent credits include “Mary Poppins Returns,” “Good Posture,” and “The Bookshop.”
“Top of the Lake” and “The Matrix” franchise are among Nevin’s credits.
A “Man in the High Castle” alumna, Heathcote’s other credits include “Professor Marston & the Wonder Women,” “Fifty Shades Darker,” and “The Neon Demon.”
“Relic” will launch in theaters and on VOD July 10.