The Trailer for Eerie and Unnerving New Australian Horror Film 'Relic' Is Here to Creep You Out
The instantly disturbing but still slow-burning film follows three generations of women in a remote Victorian house.
It's a familiar setup: a remote house, a family haunted by decades-old troubles, a murky history that's still leaving an imprint and tension levels rising when, naturally, strange things start to happen. As it has been for countless scary flicks before it, that's the broad overall premise of new Australian horror movie Relic; however this Sundance-premiering film has more than a few tricks up its sleeves.
Emily Mortimer (Mary Poppins Returns), Robyn Nevin (Top of the Lake), and Bella Heathcote (Bloom) star as three generations of a Victorian-based family — with Mortimer's Kay called back to her family home when her widowed elderly mother Edna (Nevin) disappears. With her own daughter Sam (Heathcote) in tow, Kay first endeavours to find her missing mum. Then, when Edna reappears suddenly without any explanation for her absence, Kay and Sam try to ascertain just why Edna's house — and, increasingly, Edna too — seems so sinister.
The feature directorial debut of Japanese-Australian filmmaker Natalie Erika James — who cowrote the script with fellow first-time Christian White — the instantly disturbing but still slow-burning Relic takes its creepy, eerie look and feel seriously, as the film's trailer shows. As it trifles with the supernatural and provides many a well-executed jump, bump and unnerving sensation, the smart and thoughtful movie also uses its concept and plot to ponder the physical and emotional impact of ageing, including dementia.
Aussie audiences can get unsettled — including by the film's labyrinthine main setting and its nerve-rattling soundscape — when Relic hits Stan on Friday, July 10. Across the ditch, it arrives courtesy of the NZ International Film Festival. It follows this year's also excellent Aussie-made release The True History of the Kelly Gang in making the leap from international festivals to local streaming.
Check out the Relic below:
Relic starts streaming via Stan from Friday, July 10. You can also watch it as part of the NZ International Film Festival from 25 July.
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